The Take | Hit Man (2024)

: You enjoying your pie?

: All pie is good pie.

Gary Johnson, a psychology professor in New Orleans, is a regular joe with nothing particular to show for, except one thing.

He is the town’s most renowned hit man. Want your enemies, ex-partners or lousy neighbors dead? Call Gary.

Whoever you are, Gary will make you feel right at home. He talks like you, dresses like you and thinks like you. Most importantly, Gary is ruthlessly effective.

Up to that point, his body count is a big, fat zero. After his service, his supposed victims would continue on with their normal life, while his clients usually end up in the last place they expect: prison.

Turns out, Gary actually works for the police. He is a fake hit man who engages clients to gather evidence of their solicitation of murder. In that regard, Gary is ruthlessly effective and makes almost no mistakes, until he meets Madison.

This synopsis is instantly attractive to a movie viewer, but the best part is that the film is actually based on a real-life character of the same name, as written in the Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth.

While the love affair is strictly fictional, Hit Man is still a semi-autobiography of the real Gary Johnson and takes many inspirations from his unbelievable career.

For instance, the Q&A about pies are secret codes that he actually used to identify his clients. In real life, he also “dressed up” and turned himself into different personalities to cater to his clientale.

Despite its suggestive title, Hit Man has little action sequences and act mainly as a romantic comedy. Directed by Richard Linklater (The Before Trilogy, Boyhood), the film has his signature written all over, using primarily dialogues to propel the story.

From short hilarious scenes showcasing how Gary made his arrests to long sequences capturing crucial events of the story, Hit Man goes at a brisk pace and remains entertaining throughout, making it an instant stand-out in the often formulaic and dull genre of rom-com.

They say casting is what makes or breaks a rom-com, and the combo of Glenn Powell and Adria Arjona is eclectic. The chemistry between them are off the charts, especially the duet sequence between Gary and Madison that (almost) tricked the police. The duo alone made this a worthy watch.

Glenn delivered another top-notch performance after his breakout role in Top Gun: Maverick. He had no problem switching gears instantly between the light-hearted professor, the charismatic killer and everyone in between. After Set it Up and Anyone but You, Glenn proved once again that he is the perfect rom-com guy.

If I had to be picky, I’d say the film could have spent more time on Gary’s character development.

From Gary’s point-of-view, this love affair with Madison is a battle between Gary and Ron. Gary, his “Superego” character, represents his rational self and focuses strictly on his task, while Ron, his “Id” character, couldn’t care less and only wants to make love to Madison. Which one would he choose?

The burning question presents itself in several junctions throughout the story, as Gary decides to do the right thing or go rogue. Many surprising twists followed, but how Gary made these decisions were never brought to light or explored further.

When the time came, Gary and Ron decide to help Madison.

Why? Gary said it in one line:

I think I‘m in love with you

which led to convenient conclusions that “Love changes us” and “We can be whoever we want to be” These are reasonable developments, but they are also the rationale behind 50 other rom-coms on Netflix. Everything works in the name of love.

Gary’s character is wildly interesting, but the fact that his motives and inner conflicts were less pronounced made it hard for me to fully resonate with the character.

That being said, Linklater has always favored a story-driven approach over a character-driven one. In his past films such as the Before Trilogy and Boyhood, Linklater presented the story as an objective narrator without ever zooming in on any character, giving the audience the freedom to interpret the thoughts, intentions and mindsets of the characters within.

As a rom-com, Hit Man nailed it in every way, but it had the potential to be more than a fun Friday-night watch. Considering that the film brought up several psychological concepts along the way, I sensed bigger ambitions from the start and expected it to eventually morph into a psycho-drama, which never happened.

The film had its fair share of dramatic twists, but it chose to sustain the light, comedic tone throughout. All the lectures, dialogues and monologues turned out to be merely hints that provided audience with a structure to comprehend the story. The creative choice is understandable, yet still a bit underwhelming.

Again, I’m being picky with all these assumptions. Overall, Hit Man is well executed and a very entertaining movie, easily making its way onto the top 3 of my favorite rom-com list.

For Gary the geeky professor, Madison is way out of his league, so he summoned his charming pal Ron. With Gary’s intellect and Ron’s charisma, the two of them managed to tame the wild Madison, and the three of them, plus two kids, lived happily ever after.

No one can resist a smart, sexy love story featuring smart, sexy characters.

At least I can’t.