WHAT I LIKED: Lots of stories are about characters going through some kind of personal change. But where most treat their subjects' journeys as linear, Richard Linklater's 'Hit Man,' is about how personalities are ever-changing and adaptable to each scenario. That's largely how I view the concept of a self, so I personally enjoyed the fresh perspective, but that deconstruction also makes this one of the most fun films of the year.
Its story follows an awkward, nerdy, happy-go-lucky psychology professor called Gary (Glen Powell) who's also a part-time cop acting as different hit men to meet murder conspirators and record their plans. In his lectures, he presents all kinds of arguments about what makes up a personality, but he himself argues it's mostly role-play and that people can't change much at their "cores." His ex-wife on the other hand - who left him because he supposedly lacked emotion and passion - suggests that if someone role-plays long enough, they might be able to morph the way they naturally behave. So que Ron; a passionate, self-assured killer that Gary pretends to be on one mission to meet a woman called Maddison (Adria Arjona) who wants her evil husband killed. He offers her a way out, and then they spark up a secret relationship in which he's forced to keep role-playing, and pretty soon we start to see Gary morphing into Ron.
That double-life is fruit for all sorts of fun; from the giddy (and *seriously* sexy) scenes between the secret couple, to the observations of Gary's friends and students as he starts to change. But when Madison's husband is found dead and she comes under investigation, his two lives are forced to intertwine in a brilliantly tense balancing act where he tries to maintain his relationship without ending up in prison. Having to be both people at once is a hilarious, exaggerated version of a very normal dilemma, and the fact the film continues to present Gary's spiralling actions so lightly only adds to both the tension and the satirical commentary. In the end, he pulls it off, and ends up moving forward with elements from both personalities.
His ex-wife's argument that you can become who you want to be is proved to be true, and that not only makes for a fascinating character study, and an interesting deconstruction of the self, but a film that will slap a smile on your face from start to finish and push you to the edge of your seat.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: For what it is, I can't fault it.
VERDICT: Richard Linklater's 'Hit Man,' sees someone morph their personality into the man they want to be, and uses that vehicle for all kinds of fun and tension, as well as an interesting deconstruction of the self.
