‘Hit Man’: Richard Linklater Delivers A Major Statement at Venice

Some unexpected but VERY welcome news coming from the Venice Film Festival. Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” has just screened and the whole place went crazy for it.

There are some who are completely bewildered as to why this film wasn’t in competition. An attendee tells me it’s “funny and profound, all at the same time. A masterpiece.” He’s not the only one saying this.

Another critic tells me the movie “floored” him and that it's one of the best films of Linklater’s career. An unusual hybrid of drama and comedy, blended perfectly into a truly original statement.

The applause was the loudest and most boisterous of any film that’s played so far at the 80th Venice Film Festival.

“Hit Man” stars Glenn Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) as Gary Johnson, a staff investigator who plays the role of a hit man to catch individuals ordering a hit. The film is being billed as an drama-comedy.

Linklater is coming off the critical acclaim he received for “Apollo 10 1/2” in France. The reception there was much better than in the US, where it still received positive reviews. Hell, even Cahiers du Cinema put it in their top ten films list for 2022.

It was the most personal and heartfelt movie of his career — A rotoscope-infused dream that sucks you back into 1960s Texas. It seems as though he’s followed up that film with a major statement.

Linklater is up there with the best filmmakers of his era. His filmography is as original and diverse as they come: “Dazed and Confused,” “Waking Life,” “The School of Rock,” “Boyhood” and the ‘Before’ trilogy, among many more.