NEW YORK (OSV News) – A fact-based fish-out-of-water tale, director and co-writer Richard Linklater’s black comedy “Hit Man” (Netflix) starts off intriguingly. After some needlessly graphic forays into eroticism, however, the film’s third-act departure from the real biography of its protagonist sends a morally skewed message.
Glen Powell — who collaborated with Linklater on the script, which is based on an article by Skip Hollandsworth — plays mild-mannered New Orleans philosophy professor Gary Johnson. Although his routine-driven, solitary lifestyle centers on his cats, Gary’s flair for electronics does enable him to dabble in undercover surveillance work for the police as a sideline.
Suddenly called upon to pose as an assassin-for-hire during a sting operation, Gary is initially intimidated and frightened. But he soon finds he has a knack for the work. Calling himself Ron, and dressed in ever more elaborate disguises, he tailors his various personas to meet the expectations of each suspect he’s trying to ensnare.
Despite his success, Gary’s situation becomes complicated when he first runs afoul of Jasper (Austin Amelio), the full-time cop whose role he has usurped, and then falls for Madison (Adria Arjona), an abused wife who wants him to kill her lowlife husband, Ray (Evan Holtzman). Gary persuades Madison to adopt a more peaceful plan. But he doesn’t share his secret with her.
By the midpoint of the running time, there’s an enjoyable irony to Gary’s dual life. He explores abstract questions of identity in the classroom while simultaneously conducting a secret romance in the guise of his tough-guy alter ego.
But, ethically at least, things unravel with the movie’s climax. Without resorting to a spoiler, suffice it to say that the wrap-up of the plot blithely suggests that heinous crimes can serve as the foundation for a happy future. Such a wrongheaded outlook makes “Hit Man” unsuitable for viewers of any age.
The film contains a frivolous view of evildoing, strong sexual content, including explicit premarital encounters and implied aberrant acts, a few profanities, several milder oaths, pervasive rough and much crude language and about a half-dozen crass terms. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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