Ladies and gentlemen, meet Glen Powell, star of Netflix’s upcoming action-rom, Hit Man. You’ve seen him opposite Tom Cruise as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick and as Sydney Sweeney’s complicated love interest in Anyone But You. If you have a top notch memory for faces, you might recall him as Long-Fingered Boy in 2003’s Spy Kids: Game Over. Now, Powell is tracking to become Hollywood’s new leading man, and it’s all unraveling right before our eyes. Cruise ran the box office for some decades, then Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp, but those days are winding down. There’s a new sheriff in town.
Hit Man, loosely based on a real story, follows Gary, a nerdy college professor who teaches as a career, but on the side, he helps the city police department as a tech genius. After one of his colleagues gets suspended, he is tasked with filling the role as a hit man undercover. At first, he is timid and lacks confidence, but quickly finds a level of fun to it as he builds a variety of aliases and disguises. To take it a step further, he carefully molds each alias to the interests of the suspect, increasing his chances of getting them to fork over the cash for the job. His plan works as he sees a high success rate until one hit changes everything. Enter Madison, played by the gorgeous Adria Arjona (Andor), to come and unintentionally shake things up.
While some of Gary’s characters are over the top paired with an accent, the one he happens to use with Madison is as normal as it gets. He is smooth, dresses differently, and is as handsome as they come — something Gary doesn’t exude in his day to day life where he tucks in his shirt and lives alone with his cats. Madison attempts to hire Gary to kill her controlling husband so she can live free, but he turns down her payment and instead suggests she use that money to start a new life. She takes his advice and everything goes great — at least for now.
Sanjay Rao (Bad Romance) and Rhetta (Parks and Recreation) act as supporting cast members and were the comedic relief 90% of their time spent on screen. They are on the same team with Gary to take down individuals looking for murder for hire. Directed by the genius mind of Richard Linklater, the film is wildly entertaining from start to finish and gives us everything we want and more. With steamy sex scenes, comedic one liners, and a mystery slowly on the rise, Hit Man has locked in as one of the best films of the year. It doesn’t aim to build up to any insane expectations, it’s solid in every form of the word. Some movies have predictable plot twists while others are designed to keep you guessing the entire run time. Not this one. It’s so enjoyable that you find yourself smiling from ear to ear like, “Man, this is great!” It’s clear action rom-coms are finally back with a vengeance.
The center of attention is the chemistry between Powell and Arjona. They heat up the screen in ways we haven’t seen in years. Madison is spicy and so grateful to “Gary” (he goes by a different name to her) that she immediately falls head over heels, throwing herself at him as they agree to be friends with benefits. As we know, Gary doesn’t get action, so this is a treat for him that is complicated beyond measure as we soon find out. The flick had its US premiere at the Paramount Theater in Austin in May, where Linklater told the audience the industry lacks good sex scenes. He goes on to express how Powell and Arjona deliver just that and are giving viewers what we’ve been longing for.
There is a one standout scene in particular where Madison and Gary have some back and forth dialogue. It’s intense and so well crafted, the theater broke into applause at the premiere. I’d venture to say it’s arguably the most memorable scenes from the film, with high chances it’ll become a sound to use on TikTok.
Hit Man is… well… a hit, man (cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself). Truly can’t say enough good things about it as there isn’t any element the film lacked. Powell oozes with charisma and charm, making him such a lovable character on screen. Off screen, he still has those same qualities, making it so easy to want to cheer on his career as it’s currently taking off with no signs of slowing down. The Austin native has it all and shows how he deserves the title of Hollywood’s new golden boy. The man truly tackles sweet, tough guy, and nerdiness all in one role, and it’s a joy to watch unfold. Keep an eye on him, he’s going places, with his second summer film, Twisters, hitting theaters in July.
Although the film began a run in theaters May 24, 2024, with a release on Netflix June 7th, it’s quite clear the project would have seen major success with a theatrical release alone. Hit Man is one of those ones you yap about to your friends like, “You have to see this, it’s great, trust me,” as it quickly becomes one of those flicks you throw on for a good watch.