In Richard Linklater's Hit Man Afdah Glen Powell makes his breakthrough as a major motion picture star. He may have left a lot of people with little to no doubt after his breakthrough performance in Top Gun: Maverick, but in Hit Man, he exudes an old-fashioned, white-hot charisma that should propel him to the top of everyone's list of young leading men. Powell was previously cast by Linklater in both Everybody Wants Some and his more recent film Apollo 10 1/2. It appears that Linklater is well aware of the qualities that make his leading man shine. This is custom-fit to his abilities, much like a suit.
Powell portrays Gary Johnson, a real person who was an undercover police officer in Houston who pretended to be a hitman for hire. The movie informs us that this profession doesn't really exist in the way Hollywood seems to think it does through the deft use of iconic hitman movie clips. Although it's not the typical criminal profession that people think it is, people may kill for money. Nevertheless, as a culture, we choose to believe that this is the case.
This is where Johnson comes in; his job is to get the bad guys to pay him to kill people so they can go to jail for trying to commit a murder. Hit Man is partially inspired by true events, but it also contains made-up scenes, with Linklater only disclosing the “truth” at the very end. It doesn't really matter; it's just there to give Powell a classic movie star role to play.
Powell is convincing as the character's natural, geeky self as well as any of his more badass personas, even though he is an extremely attractive man. Powell finds that the character is a master of disguise, which enables him to play a variety of roles. Powell particularly enjoys playing a tough guy, to the point where he starts to adopt the persona full-time.
Adria Arjona plays Powell's counterpart, a quasi-femme fatale who wants him to dump her useless husband. This is Arjona's best performance to date. Gary begins to go down a film noir rabbit hole after falling in love with her, but Linklater, who is an expert in his genres, always keeps things fresh. He has the characters in this film do the exact opposite of what you would think they would do given the genre's conventions. It tastes like a delightful concoction of The Sting and Stakeout mixed with a healthy dose of the original Fletch. Powell and Arjona have a really hot relationship, and their romantic moments are hotter than anything we've seen in a mainstream Hollywood film in a long time.
