SCREEN | Faking It – Glen Powell Takes the 'Hit Man'

"I guess I'm just your fantasy."

AGC Studios / VVS Films

Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater reteams with his Everybody Wants Some!! star Glen Powell (also a co-writer/producer) to glamourize journalist and Bernie co-writer Skip Hollandsworth's 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article about the real-life, mild-mannered college professor turned fake hitman for hire, Gary Johnson. Hit Man makes for a near-perfect starring vehicle for the endlessly charming Powell that embraces fictionalizing its true crime-adjacent material.

Powell shines while clearly relishing both a fun and meaty role where he gets to inhabit so many different hitman-for-hire personalities from the dorky teacher to the flirty bad boy killer, all as a romantic lead. Co-starring Adria Arjona as Johnson's mark and love interest, she's tasked with making her part of the desperate wife with an abusive husband into a complex role while maintaining the sexy fun of a ludicrous meet-cute turned ill-advised romance.

While Hit Man is mostly light-hearted rom-com thriller fun, it feels impossibly destined as the kind of cable television staple of late night reruns now replaced with endless streaming choices. Despite the material revolving around ostensibly hiring people to commit murder, Linklater maintains a breezy wholesomeness to the proceedings even when things veer darker. It's an altogether pleasant watch.

Hit Man will be available to stream on Netflix in Canada starting August 22nd (and June 7th in the U.S.).


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