The big question here at TIFF is who will pick up Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man”? The film has screened to great reviews and Glenn Powell could get a serious push for Best Actor this awards season. He’s that good in it.
It still has no distributor, but I bet Apple is in the running, probably another streamer like Netflix, and the usual top-notch indie boutiques (A24 and NEON). Whoever gets it will probably pay more than Netflix did for “Woman of the Hour” — still the biggest seller of the fest so far at $11 million.
“Hit Man” stars Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”) as Gary Johnson, a police staff investigator who plays the role of a hit man to catch individuals ordering a hit. He ends up falling hard for Madison (Adria Arjona) whom he talks out of a hit on her abusive husband.
This is a surprisingly sexy noir by Linklater. It keeps messing with your head as characters switch identities, and lies upon lies get piled up. It’s also darkly funny and its characters morally questionable.
Does it overstay its welcome? Somewhat. I won’t lie that, as the twists piled up, it became a tad implausible in its final stretch. The ending felt rushed. Regardless, this is a strong film from Linklater.
Although people will be talking a lot about Powell’s shape-shifting performance, I must mention Adria Arjona as the femme fatale — she’s stunning. Her chemistry with Powell is palpable, especially in the middle section when Madison and Gary’s twisted romance begins.
Don’t be mistaken by some calling “Hit Man” an action-comedy, that it is not, if anything it kind of invents its own genre. Screwball Noir? That’s how it feels like.
“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.