There are only so many Hitman films you can do before they all start bending together and feeling the same; not to say there haven’t been any good ones but I think you can understand why the sudden unveiling of praise for Netflix’s “Hit Man” took me by surprise.
And let’s just say I was right to be skeptical: it ain’t no damn masterpiece but it can be entertaining….to a fault.
One thing readily apparent about this when you first boot it up is how chocked the brim it is with flimsy but stable pastiche, something its presentation boasts; it’s not quite up-tempo, heightened or very screwball-y in its tone but you can tell it felt specifically designed from the ground up to ride that fine line between sincerity and irony while being a crowd-pleaser in equal measure, that mileage might vary. Its muted color palette does boast the cinematography’s simplicity, capturing the underbelly of the city with a polished aesthetic that somewhat enhances its noir-esque atmosphere. The use of lighting and shadow play a significant role in setting the mood while the production design, I wish was utilized better. For all the praise I just gave to how it looks, I also couldn’t forget how empty some areas felt for boasting a backdrop and it was missing that extra je ne sais quoi.
Costumes are appropriately made and utilized while Graham Reynolds also successfully flirts between in his rather catchy score despite being more sparse than expected. And I won’t lie, some of its comedic moments had me struggling not to laugh; emphasis on SOME.
Glen Powell continues to be every bit as charming and multifaceted as they come and his chemistry with Adria Arjona is nothing short of stellar. Both of them were the clear standouts amongst a simply alright cast of so-so, one-to-two dimensional characters. And for every decent line of dialogue, the rest don’t really stand out.
So many movies either hint at or completely telegraph their plots and ideas way early on in advance so I’m willing to give this movie credit that, for a good while, I had no genuine clue on where the desired direction was going but eventually, the writing on the wall gets more clear as to what’s going to happen…..but not how. Embellishments had to be taken in regards to adapting the real life Gary Johnson’s contributions and the way it’s done, in a lame man’s terms, is like Notting Hill meets Double Indemnity: a semi-1940’s noir-esque throwback spoof that quickly evolves into a somewhat charming study of how easy it is to become what we pretend we are and whether or not change is truly possible.
Similar to how said actors and actresses have to carry out the whims of the writers and directors for a TV show or movie, we can occasionally get swept up, get lost in the role and are prone to shapeshifting for a living. This kind of mentality works wonders in Richard Linklater’s case already as he’s normally very fluid in swapping back and forth between genres while making the transition feel natural so carrying that over into the extensional DNA of this story’s bone marrow and that’s what makes his direction so impressive: his puppeteering of genres is another form of manipulation that can understandably go unnoticed and be easy to fall in love with and is utilized to fascinating effects when watching Gary’s story unfold. Whether you fall for it or not is up to whoever watches this: I wasn’t exactly one of them.
I’d like to say the narrative upholds and further develops the context and continuity it sets up but to continually hint at deeper emotional and psychological layers only to never fully explore those became a bit of an annoyance to me, especially as they have to continuously SPELL out the themes to us. Talking a big talk without walking the walk however is something I detest in films as ambitious as this so it’s really off-putting seeing a project of Linklater’s do so much dumbing down and for a story of his to come off so…..mundane. One selling point of noirs is particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations so portraying it in the vein of a black comedy was all but acceptable except for two things: it wasn’t really all that funny to me and most of it relies on far-fetched plot devices and coincidences to get the momentum going, which may I remind you, ISN’T A LOT.
There are a lot of moral implications that the story has to bypass or flat out ignore to tell what it wants to tell which gets muddled a little bit when you think on Gary and Madison’s relationship, between his gaslighting and her complicity without either of them fully being aware of it. The attempts made to elevate the material from standard 'rom-com' should be commended, but unfortunately that execution of that ends up being its undoing.
And at the end of the day, it’s still technically a liar revealed story which I’m already pretty indifferent to.
A insubstantial appetizer that could’ve been a memorable main course if approached at a different angle, this falls squarely into the realm of being average, best suited for a one-time watch. While it doesn't boast anything extraordinary, it manages to hold the viewer's attention and I guess that’s fine enough but considering the down-pouring of praise it’s been getting? I expected better.
