Can We Talk about Hit Man?
I pretty much only ever watch movies on airplanes. As an American living overseas, I take a lot of transatlantic flights, and as a chronic insomniac, I am incapable of sleeping on planes. Something has to fill the hours. Might as well be a movie. Besides, it’s no fun to see a movie in theaters where we live (the German-speaking part of Switzerland), because American films are usually dubbed into German. And my husband, Matt, and I rarely watch movies at home because we have trouble agreeing on what to see. I prefer popular movies, while Matt’s taste runs to esoteric, avant-garde films in which plot is optional.1
So this summer on a flight to the US, I was ELATED to see that Richard Linklater’s film Hit Man (2023) was one of the in-flight options. The reviews were rapturous, the plot sounded like a lot of fun, plus, you know, Glen Powell. I mean, Glen Powell has supernova-level charisma, and you can tell that he genuinely likes women. Suffice it to say that I am a fan.
A brief warning: I am terrible about spoilers. I just can’t seem to help myself. So if you have been planning to watch Hit Man and haven’t gotten around to it yet, stop reading now and go watch, because this essay will discuss the film’s entire plot, up to and including the final scene.
All set? Onward!
Great Expectations
Of course I had great expectations for Hit Man. Not only does it star Powell and the gorgeous Adria Arjona, not only is Linklater an entertaining and thought-provoking director, but the film’s appealing premise is based on an inspiring true story.
Powell plays Gary, a nebbishy philosophy professor who occasionally provides tech support to the police during their sting operations to catch people attempting to hire hit men. One day, the cop who poses as the hit man, Jasper, is suspended for police brutality, and Gary steps in at the last minute. He discovers that he has an aptitude for playing the role, and we enjoy watching his growing confidence—and laughing at how his hit men satirize movie stereotypes.
Then one day Gary meets a prospective client, Madison (Arjona), a beautiful young woman who wants to hire Gary to kill her abusive husband, Ray. Gary sympathizes with her plight and is understandably smitten. Instead of entrapping Madison and bringing her to justice, he begins a relationship with her.
The critics loved this film, which received a 95 percent positive review on Rotten Tomatoes. A representative review, in the New York Times, calls it
the kind of romp people are talking about when they say that “they don’t make them like they used to”: It’s romantic, sexy, hilarious, satisfying and a genuine star-clinching turn for Glen Powell. . . . It’s got the cheeky verve of a 1940s screwball rom-com in a thoroughly contemporary (and slightly racier) package. I’ve seen it twice, and a huge grin plastered itself across my face both times.
A screwball comedy in which a sweet nerd discovers his swagger and has a chance at love with a beautiful woman? What’s not to like? Well . . .
What the Heck Did I Just Watch?!
About a third of the way into the movie, boy do things take a turn. Critics, unlike me, are honor-bound not to reveal spoilers, and so the reviews don’t even hint at what Hit Man actually is—a comedy, yes, but not a romantic one. It is actually a black, bitter, and bleak story of a good person’s turn to the dark side.
At the start of Gary and Madison’s torrid affair,2 we realize, uneasily, that Madison is attracted to someone she thinks is a killer. That raises our suspicions. We then see Gary deliver a lecture to his students in which he argues that we descended from primitive societies that ganged up on and killed anti-social people to preserve the group. Then Ray turns up dead, and we learn that Madison has murdered him for the insurance money.3 Gary helps to cover up her crime. Jasper figures out that Madison killed Ray and that Gary was involved, and he shows up at Madison’s house to blackmail them. And then Madison and Gary murder Jasper and go on to live happily ever after.4
Yikes, right?
My argument is not with Linklater, who has created this dark turn in order to make a point, but rather with the critics who characterized Hit Man as a lighthearted, wholesome “romp.” I think their misunderstanding (or deliberate misrepresentation) of the film reflects a pernicious cultural belief.
You’re Correct. This Is about the Election
There is an unfortunate tendency in our culture to categorize people as naughty or nice, friend or foe, good guys or bad guys, when really, we are all flawed humans, and most of us are just trying to do our best. Worse, it is tempting to succumb to fantasies that if only all those bad people would just disappear, our lives would be perfect. Gary expresses this wish when he praises the societies that purge the “bad people” for the sake of the group. I think one unconscious reason behind the rave reviews of Hit Man in the elite media is that two smart and attractive people get away with killing an angry white man and a violent racist cop.
The critical reaction to Hit Man is by no means the only example of this simplistic view of our opponents’ moral worth, or of how to deal with those we perceive to be threats. We see it in superhero movies in which the only way to save the world is to kill villains, in video games in which monsters and NPCs are obstacles to be blown away, and even in literature. I have written before about Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens. This bestselling and much-beloved novel tells the story of a sensitive and brilliant young woman. After her ex-boyfriend tries to rape her, she doesn’t go to the police or even bother putting a lock on her door. Instead, she carries out an elaborate plan to murder him, and she gets away with it. The book’s fans seem to think this outcome is appropriate and even commendable, instead of the heinous crime it actually is.
Hit Man challenges us to self-reflection. No matter where on the political spectrum we sit, the film offers us some useful lessons about introspection and humility in our interactions with others.
Just as Gary is besotted by Madison, we are all vulnerable to being manipulated by charismatic liars, and when we find ourselves strongly drawn to someone, it’s worth asking whether they mean us well or are exploiting us for their own selfish ends.
But on the other hand, when we view other people as absolutely evil, we are almost certainly mistaken. It is precisely when we are most sure we are justified in condemning other people that we most need to ask, Are we the baddies? The film’s two ostensible villains, Jasper and Ray, did not deserve to die; in fact the film’s true villains are their killers, Madison and Gary.
In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Gary gets so carried away with playing a hit man that he winds up committing a real murder.
Much as we might wish it were otherwise, life is not a movie, and there is no quick fix to our conflicts. We can’t just make “those people” go away. But the good news is that no matter what Gary says, our society is not in fact primitive, tribal, and violent. We are capable of confronting our own flaws, dropping our online posturing, talking with one another face-to-face, and working out solutions together. Because, as Benjamin Franklin warns us, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
How about you, readers? Have you seen Hit Man, and if so, what did you think of it? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
The Tidbit
All of this being said, Glen Powell’s performance is tremendous fun. This video showcases his impressive range and comedic timing. Enjoy!
Poor Matt. I will never let him live down the time he persuaded me to watch an arty Romanian film with him. The film was about a family trying to wrestle an overweight elderly relative down several flights of poorly-lit stairs. That was it. That was the entire plot, for two hours. Any time I want to watch something like, say, Terminator 2, I bring up this Romanian film. (And to be fair to Matt, he found the Romanian film to be a snore, but he did very much enjoy Terminator 2.)
Madison, unlike Gary, is invented for the film. The real Gary never was so unethical as to have an affair with the target of an investigation, let alone to commit the crimes in the last half of the film.
At one point Madison’s husband confronts her over her affair with Gary, and his rage is frightening. But there is no evidence beyond Madison’s say-so that he was ever abusive. And even if he were, spousal abuse doesn’t warrant the death penalty.
Although if I were Gary and I ever found out that Madison had taken out a life-insurance policy on me, I would run away as fast as my legs could carry me.
I haven't seen Hit Man, but this column taps into some thoughts I've had about the set of anti-heroes in several popular TV shows: The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Deadwood, and Mad Men. I tapped out on all three shows because they depressed me. Sometimes I wonder if those TV bad-boys paved the way for the toxic masculinity we see on the rise in the U.S. and for a general breakdown of a sense of clear morality among the "elites" who watch those shows. (I put "elites" in quotation marks because I'm never sure who is in that category, but it seems useful here.)