First came the conscientious hitman in David Fincher’s Hitman. Then the theme of murder turned out to be the protagonist of the new film “The Great Irony” by Woody Allen. And finally, the hero of Richard Linklater’s film “Hitman” received a huge round of applause.
The film is largely based on real life: the impetus for the creation of the script was the publication in one of the Texas newspapers about a modest university professor, Gary Johnson, who worked as an informant for the secret police and posed as by a murderer to catch and arrest people who try to hire him. In the film, the hero retains his real name Gary and lectures the students about the relativity of a concept like “I.” Outside the classroom, he’s the cool Ron, a police department provocateur, a decoy who lures potential criminals into a trap. But one day the program fails: he falls in love with one of the “clients”, a woman who wants to get rid of her husband with the help of a murderer. His self is changing: now he is the victim of an insidious case that turns a crime hunter into a criminal.
The hero is played by Glen Powell (“Mission Miami,” “Bad Boys”), who is also co-writer and co-producer of the film. VanityFair highlights his “magnetic charm.” “After almost every sentence he uttered, delivered with impeccable aplomb, the Venetian audience burst into applause,” writes the London Times. “His performance of it is like the tricks of a skilled magician,” the Variety writer admires. “Tall and slender, with a shock of honey-colored hair, his character has an unusual charisma, there is something of Guy Pearce about him and of Ryan Gosling, with his goofy smile that radiates pure sincerity… The film is full of lovely moments.”
From an entertaining plot for a typical action movie, Linklater makes a very sophisticated art film: “This film looks like a spy farce filmed by a psychology specialist,” notes The Guardian. Awards Watch rates “Hitman” as the pearl of the festival and one of the best films of 2023. The new film from five-time Oscar nominee Linklater is considered a sure contender for the Academy Awards.
On the Kinopoisk website, the film is listed under the title “The Hitman”.
