From Ryan Cordaro

I admittedly haven’t seen much of Richard Linklater’s work, but I can’t be the only one that’s at least heard of his most popular films. The Before trilogy, Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, Boyhood, I could go on for a while. Linklater has actually been one of the directors I’ve been wanting to dive into as a filmmaker, so why not do it at the time when a new movie of his is coming out?

Hit Man, a new crime comedy/thriller, premiered last September at the Venice Film Festival to massive praise and has been making the rounds at the usual festivals, including Sundance right now. Glen Powell (Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick) stars as Gary, a cop that’s been going undercover as the most in-demand hitman in Houston to arrest potential clients who would hire said hitman. When he meets a young woman being abused by her boyfriend, Gary breaks protocol to make sure he can help this woman.

While Linklater directs and co-writes, the most interesting tidbit from this relatively short teaser is that Powell himself is credited as a co-writer. I’ve enjoyed nearly everything that I’ve seen Powell in, even when he was a stock market trader that was tossed aside by Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, so seeing that he’s seemingly just as involved as Linklater is with the film sets the bar pretty high for me.

Hit Man also stars Adria Arjona (Andor, Good Omens), Austin Amelio (Fear the Walking Dead, Everybody Wants Some!!), Retta (Parks & Recreation, Good Boys), Sanjay Rao (Bad Romance, The Flight Attendant), Evan Holtzman (Hidden Figures, the upcoming Civil War), Mike Markoff (05-25-77, All Sorts), and Molly Bernard (Younger, Chicago Med).

Hit Man will have a limited theatrical release before it lands on Netflix on June 7th, 2024.

Follow Ryan