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This review was originally published on September 7, 2023, out of the Venice Film Festival.
We are recirculating it withHit Mannow on Netflix.
How many of you really know yourselves?
It turns that hes about to become a walking answer to the question.
You have this unreadable face, a colleague tells him.
Theres more than a bit of Cruise in Powells performance here, in fact.
(One wonders if some of that magic movie-star dust rubbed off while they were makingTop Gun: Mavericktogether.
Powell, it should be noted, has a co-screenwriting credit onHit Man.)
If Glen Powells not already a star, this picture might well make him one.
Its a movie-star role because it is at heart a fantasy.
As Gary tells us, hit men are, by and large, a myth.
Gary is effectively playing a figure out of our collective imagination.
And on some level, that liberates him.
He can make up the character as he sees fit because the people hes playing quite simply dont exist.
And Gary sort ofthinkshes Ron, too.
(I was once told I think too much to be a good lover, he reflects.
Hes not a thinker.
Hes a doer.)
He also has the instincts of a tougher guy when theyre together.
But Linklaters amiable filmmaking and Powells charming, self-aware swagger are infused with the idea that anything is possible.
They make the whole world seem open, malleable, and accepting.
As Gary tells his class, If the universe is not fixed, then neither are you.
But only Linklaters feels genuinely fresh.
Linklaters gentle touch is his secret weapon, andHit Manmight be a masterpiece.
