Happening, Hilarious, and Horny: Hit Man 2024 Review

What if your “self” is a construction?
It is not the kind of question you’d expect from a movie starring Glen Powell. And you’d not be wrong; the Greek God was last seen in Anyone But You, mostly without his shirt. So again, you would not expect the questions about identity from his movie. It would be like imagining Tiger Shroff sitting in a wheelchair. TIGER SHROFF! SITTING! But the 2024 Hit Man will take away the image you have built of this person. It’s a Richard Linklater joint, it’s anything but basic. Yes I called Anyone But You basic. Deal with it.

Who was Gary Johnson?

The 2024 Hit Man is loosely based on a real-life pretend hitman (can you believe it’s a real job), Gary Johnson. Johnson was born in 1947 and died at the age of 75 in the year 2022. Throughout his life, he relentlessly built an impressive resume. He was a Vietnam vet, a college professor, an undercover agent, an animal lover, a Buddhist and lastly the chillest dude imaginable according to the credits. While being an undercover agent, Johnson reportedly helped police nab over 70 people (in 30 years) who were conspiring to get someone murdered. 

Gary Johnson is a philosophy professor by day and an undercover agent by…day only. I guess it depends on the sanity of the client when they are available to meet. One fateful day Gary has to play the part of a hitman and he realizes he has a knack for it. He starts playing hitman for all sorts of clients. By clients, I mean lunatics who want to get people killed. Gary Johnson is good at it. He wins their trust and gets them to confess. It all keeps going smoothly until he meets a woman. And oh well, we all know how the story goes from here…

Hit Man in Scene

Hit Man considers Gary Johnson as somewhat of an average person, someone you’d not want to be with, in a social capacity. But the movie forgets that Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson. Powell is anything but forgettable or average. He has this unfairly symmetrical face that makes him unforgettable and above average. I was skeptical about the idea of casting Glen Powell as someone uninteresting. But after seeing the result I thought, Yeh Bhi Theek Hai.

Casting Glen Powell as someone who is unattractive, average and uninteresting is obviously a bold choice. It pays off well when Gary Johnson starts to alter his persona for potential clients. Gary Johnson, the professor might not be charming, but Glen Powell, the actor is. When Gary Johnson meets Madison (Adria Arjona, equal parts mysterious and equal parts hot) as hitman Ron, a suave and charming hitman, things start dialling up to eleven and it never dials down. The absurdity just doesn’t let you take your eyes off the screen. Gary Johnson becomes more interesting by the minute as he starts to delve into the identity of Ron.

Madison doesn’t appear till halfway into the movie. Adria Arjona isn’t given much to do, but she does that well too. There’s an air of mystery behind the character. You never know what she’s like or what she’s going to do next. That paired with the weirdness of Gary Johnson goes beyond the reasonable most sincerely. Adria Arjona shares great chemistry with Glen Powell. The progression of their story does not seem forced at all. Madison and Gary almost complement each other in places. A really deranged, psychotic couple, but entertaining nonetheless. It’s a Glen Powell show all the way though.

Gary Johnson as a character is very fascinating to see. When Gary plays a hitman for the first time, you get to see how absurd it is, even for him. The Hit Man captures his personality and a unique character in the way Powell delivers the dialogue in the film.

“YOU KILL…FOR A LIVING.”

“Breathe…think hitman thoughts.”

Actor Glen Powell shows a great range at the very beginning of Hit Man. He talks to a potential client about chopping off fingertips and disposing of 1 fingertip every 5 miles. In the very next scene, he talks, as Gary, about pileated woodpeckers in detail as if that’s the only thing to talk about in the world. Seeing Glen Powell change personas is a really interesting visual gag and hilarious to look at.

Writer Glen Powell doesn’t pull any punches as well. It was his idea to not stick to the facts. Real-life Gary Johnson didn’t do what you see reel life Gary Johnson do. Glen took some facts but also used his creative liberty to come up with this version of Johnson who is hot (obviously) but also very delirious.

Adding more ingenuity in the movie, it also raises many deep philosophical questions about identity such as: Can people change? Can people change in the ways that matter? Can someone change their complete personality in adulthood? How far can you go for love? You get the answers, sort of, although not in any way you’d expect. It’s made by Linklater after all. The guy took 12 years to make 1 movie (Boyhood).

To add to this whole philosophical idea, Gary Johnson’s cats are named Id and Ego, after Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche. Who’s Sigmund Freud you ask? He’s a motherf…never mind. 

Hit Man does have the answer to one of the most significant questions of life and philosophy though. What pie is good pie?

“All pie is good pie.”

Even the durian one, I guess I’ll take your word for it Gary Johnson.

In Conclusion

Hit Man is absurd. It is hilarious. It is dark. And, it is something you might not expect it to be. You should definitely give it a shot. It is brilliant. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t get a wider theatrical release being a Netflix flick, because it would have been a hit, man! Don’t watch it with your family though, it’s anything but safe. Parents, watch it by yourselves and kids, if you’re reading it, I think it is time to ask your parents,” Where do babies come from?”

Related Recommendations

There’s a supercut of hitmen in Hollywood in Hit Man. If you want to watch something equally absurd and darkly funny, you should watch In Bruges (2008) “One gay beer for my gay friend, one normal beer for me because I am normal.” and Barry (2018-2023) “I Should Just Go To John Wick Assassin Hotel With Help Wanted Sign?“