Hit Man

A college professor moonlighting as an undercover contract killer ends up falling for one of his clients in Hit Man. Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a divorced college professor living an isolated life with his two cats. Gary moonlights for the police department, working as tech support for an undercover sting operation meant to catch people looking to hire contract killers. When the officer in charge Jasper (Austin Amelio) is suspended, Gary is assigned by his supervisor Claudette (Retta) to be a last-minute replacement. Gary ends up being quite skilled playing an undercover hitman, often coming up with multiple costumes and personas, with his main being the suave and confident “Ron.”

As Ron, Gary meets with Maddy Masters (Adria Arjona), who wants him to kill her husband Ray (Evan Holtzman). Feeling sympathy and attraction towards Maddy, Gary instead convinces her to call off the hit and leave her husband. The two end up entering into a secret relationship with each other, which soon threatens to make Gary’s undercover persona into a reality.

Hit Man Synopsis

Hit Man is a crime comedy directed by Richard Linklater (Bernie), which he co-wrote with star Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick), based on a 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article by Skip Hollandsworth. The plot of the film is loosely based on the true story of Gary Johnson, who did undercover police work in the 1970s and 1980s and helped make 70 arrests. Powell portrays Johnson as a nerdy loner, living with two cats named Id and Ego.

Through his undercover work, Gary is experimenting with different personas for himself, ranging from a Russian gangster to a creepy psychopath. The persona of Ron is the closest to Gary’s real personality, except with the confidence turned way up. This confidence allows him to enter into a relationship with prospective client Maddy, however, this soon results in conflicts with his undercover police work, particularly the suspicions of team head Jasper.

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My Thoughts on Hit Man

Hit Man is the third collaboration between Richard Linklater and star Glen Powell, who previously appeared in 2006’s Fast Food Nation (as a teenager) and 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!!. The last few years have seen Glen Powell’s star power begin to rise, thanks to his supporting role as Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, as well as having a huge box office hit earlier this year with the romantic comedy Anyone But You. If he wasn’t one already, Hit Man is undoubtedly a star-making film for Glen Powell.

Much of the comedy in Hit Man comes from the range of personas that Powell’s character of Gary Johnson plays in his undercover work. This helps to establish Glen Powell as more than just another handsome leading man. Though, of course, the bulk of the film has him being the suave and confident Ron.

Ultimately, the plot of Hit Man is centred around the psychological concepts of the Id, Ego, and Superego. With Ron as the instinctual Id to Gary’s moral Superego, he eventually has to find a balancing point to establish his Ego persona. Altogether, Hit Man is quite an entertaining look into this conflict of personalities.

Trailer for Hit Man