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Hit Man centres around psychology professor Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), who has cats named Id and Ego (what, no Superego?), and who’s about to find some new employment where he’s the least likely to be picked for the job.
Taking over from colleague Jasper (Austin Amelio) – who’s been forced to take leave following an offscreen incident, Gary is about to become the titular hitman… almost. He won’t actually kill anyone, but will go through a mic’d up meeting where he has to appear convincing that he’s the man to bump off whoever the client requests.
Along the way, Gary gets so much into it, he even tailors his outfit to suit the needs of the client, with scenes where Powell plays brilliantly against the type he portrayed of the macho idiot in Top Gun Maverick.
However, what to do when he meets hot client Maddy Masters (Adria Arjona – Andor), who wants husband Ray (Evan Holtzman) out of the way, and love is in the air?
Aside from that, I did wonder how such an occupation would be viable, given that this is basically entrapment by the police. Plus, after carrying out the deed – or not, as it appears – he’ll then have to appear in court about his clients’ crimes, so that’ll give away his identity, and surely it’s about staying anonymous?
But then, it’s based on a true story, so what is real and what is Memorex?
Overall, I hugely enjoyed Hit Man, especially seeing it on the big screen, but while Cineworld will show limited release movies which are shortly due to be on Netflix, Odeon won’t. Hence, it’s annoying that I can’t make use of my Odeon Limitless membership. That said, if you’re on Three, you can download the Three+ app and claim a Cineworld ticket QR code, which will cost £3 in the cinema from Friday to Sunday.
Hit Man is in cinemas now, then on Netflix from June 7th, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
However, once announced for home release, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 115 minutes
Release date: May 24th 2024
Studio: Netflix
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 8.5/10
Director: Richard Linklater
Producers: Jason Bateman, Mike Blizzard, Michael Costigan, Richard Linklater, Glen Powell
Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell
Article: Skip Hollandsworth
Music: Graham Reynolds
Cast
Gary Johnson: Glen Powell
Maddy Masters: Adria Arjona
Jasper: Austin Amelio
Claudette: Retta
Phil: Sanjay Rao
Ray Masters: Evan Holtzman
Alisha: Molly Bernard
Craig: Mike Markoff
Jill: Beth Bartley
Joe: Richard Robichaux
Tammi: Morgana Shaw
Rita: Kate Adair
Marcus: Ritchie Montgomery
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.