Summary
- Hit Man
is a twisted rom-com based on a true story, filled with dark humor and philosophical themes. - The climactic notes app scene in the movie is hailed as brilliant, showing great creativity and execution.
- The final act showcases a high-stakes confrontation, highlighting the chemistry between the lead characters.
All pie is good pie, and Hit Man serves it to us piping hot. This twisted rom-com tells the story of a straight-laced, cat-loving academic who gets sucked into aiding the police in sting operations as a fake hitman. It is through this work that he meets one of his alter ego’s more sympathetic “clients,” a woman fleeing an abusive relationship, willing to kill her ex-partner as a last resort. Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson, a college professor of philosophy and psychology and the real person on whom this movie was based. Adria Arjona plays Madison, the morally grey yet sympathetic love interest.
Powell penned the script for the embellished true story with director Richard Linklater, a man whose works span across genres but, as Paste Magazine aptly puts it, feature a signature “art-jock philosophy.” Indeed, some viewers adore the film for its philosophical touches, as well as its actors’ chemistry and the idiosyncratic tone. On the flip side, others find it to be less “dark comedy” and more “murder p*rn.” If there’s one thing that everyone seems to agree on, though, it’s how brilliant the climactic scene was. So which scene was that, exactly? And how did Linklater manage to execute it, in his words?
The Notes App Scene in Hit Man
In Hit Man‘s final act, Gary clocks in to yet another shift as his hitman character, “Ron.” On this day in particular, though, his client is Madison’s abusive ex, Ray. Ray is triggered after just having learned that Madison has a new partner. The concoction of mental instability and passionate jealousy leads him to seek out a hitman to kill Madison and Gary both. Unfortunately for him, that hitman is Gary. After the fraught encounter, Gary rushes to warn Madison that Ray is now after the two of them.
When he goes to work next, though, he finds out that Ray has been shot dead. His worst suspicions, that Madison is to blame, are eventually confirmed. Unfortunately for the lovebirds, she’s the police’s number one suspect, too. Gary’s sleazy coworker with whom he has an antagonistic relationship, Jasper, actually puts the pieces together.
He suggests to the group that Gary confront Madison right away while everyone listens in on the entire thing via earpiece. Gary’s lack of time to prepare an “out” with Madison in advance leads to this high-stakes notes app-forward climax. The scene caught viewers’ attention, and social media pointed out how great the execution was.
Richard Linklater Discussed the Hit Man Scene
Gary walks up to Madison’s door, conferring with the police officers, typing on his phone. It isn’t until Madison opens the door that we see what Gary’s been typing: a script for Madison to follow while he questions her out loud. The dramatic tension arises because, as Linklater tells the New York Times, “It’s a tall order for anyone to be on your feet, thinking that quickly and acting another way.” Gary and Madison volley back and forth while also ensuring they sell what they’re saying to each other with the appropriate theatrics.
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Linklater also points out that this is also how Gary and Madison make up. Previously, when Gary learned that Madison had killed Ray, they broke up. The subtext of this notes app scene is that Gary and Madison are committing to each other, no matter what. Linklater gives props to Adria for stepping up not only on-camera here but as a creative partner behind the scenes, adding that this scene wouldn’t work without her.
“The three of us worked on it together so much.— Just sitting around a table, asking questions, refining it, then rehearsing it, then rehearsing it on location, then ultimately performing it. This scene becomes kind of a performance within a performance within a performance…and, for it to work at all, he (Gary) has to direct the scene. And once she realizes what he’s doing, she has to go along with it. So, they’re both playing their part. But it makes it a very multi-layered undertaking. To me, it’s a screwball comedy scene…but the stakes couldn’t be higher.”
For Powell’s part, this writing debut was the manifestation of a lifelong dream. He’d written and sold many scripts that never got made before Hit Man. On top of his efforts finally paying off, he’d always looked up to Linklater long before they ever first worked together. Even now that they’re friends, he still can’t help but admire him. “Now it’s 20 years later, and I look at Rick the same way. I just pinch myself every day that I get to be here,” Powell said. Hit Man is streaming now on Netflix.
