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Hit Man Review: Netflix’s Crime Caper Is a Surprisingly Great Rom-Com

Glen Powell’s mild-mannered professor becomes a fake hit man in Hit Man, a crime caper whose invented persona leads to real romantic and ethical complications.
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Hit Man turns an undercover police sting into an unexpectedly nimble romantic comedy: Glen Powell’s buttoned-up Gary Johnson invents a dangerous persona, “Ron,” and finds himself drawn to Madison (Adria Arjona), a would-be client. Their attraction gives the film its spark, while the lies beneath it supply the crime-thriller tension. The movie takes inspiration from a real undercover officer, but its central romance is fictional.

What is Hit Man about?

Gary Johnson is a mild-mannered professor who helps the New Orleans Police Department catch people trying to hire a killer. In sting operations, he poses as a contract killer and builds a different character for each prospective client. His skill at disguise makes the work feel almost like performance—until he meets Madison and becomes personally involved.

Madison is attracted to the more forceful “Ron” Gary has invented. That puts Gary’s professional deception and private desire on a collision course. The premise is a crime caper, but the question that gives it momentum is romantic: can a connection survive when one person has fallen for a role?

Does the genre blend work?

For the most part, yes. The film moves among comic impersonation, noirish danger, thriller suspense and romance without treating any one mode as a mere detour. The disguises create comic pleasure; the prospect of real violence gives those games consequence; and Gary and Madison’s chemistry makes the deception matter emotionally. Netflix describes the film as a sunlit neo-noir and existential comedy, while director Richard Linklater called his approach “a comedy about murder.”

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#1 Best Overall

That combination is also the film’s main balancing act. Its playful surface can make Gary’s work seem like an elaborate game, but the underlying premise is not harmless: he is impersonating a killer to draw people into a police operation, and his involvement with Madison compromises the distance that role requires. The shift from playful caper to moral unease is part of the appeal, though viewers expecting either a straight thriller or a conventional romance may find the tonal mix deliberately hard to pin down.

How do Glen Powell and Adria Arjona shape the romance?

Powell’s performance depends on contrast. Gary begins as a restrained, unassuming man; “Ron” is a constructed identity designed to project danger and confidence. The disguises are not simply visual jokes. They make Gary’s capacity for invention the film’s central character question: how much of a person is fixed, and how much can be performed into existence?

Arjona gives Madison a role in that game rather than leaving her as a passive target of Gary’s disguises. Their attraction is compelling because it grows from an invented persona, but that same foundation keeps the romance ethically unsettled. Gary is not just pretending for a stranger; once he is drawn to Madison, he has a reason to keep the lie alive. The film lets chemistry and deception coexist instead of pretending one cancels out the other.

Is Hit Man based on a true story?

It is inspired by a real person and real reporting, not a documented romance. The film draws on Gary Johnson, whose undercover work was the subject of Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 Texas Monthly article. It borrows Johnson’s name and elements of his life, then reshapes that material into a fictional story.

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In particular, Gary’s relationship with Madison was invented by Linklater and Powell. Netflix Tudum’s account of the adaptation describes the filmmakers’ creative license, and TIME’s reporting distinguishes the film’s romantic plot from the real Johnson’s story. “Inspired by a true story” is therefore the accurate description; Hit Man should not be taken as a faithful account of a real-life romance.

Where can you watch Hit Man?

Rotten Tomatoes listed Netflix as a streaming option when its page was accessed. Streaming catalogs vary by country and can change, so check Netflix in your region for current availability. The film had a limited theatrical release on May 24, 2024, followed by a streaming release on June 7, 2024.

Rank #4
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How was the film received?

At the time the Rotten Tomatoes page was accessed, Hit Man had a 95% Tomatometer score from 303 reviews and an 89% Popcornmeter score from more than 50 verified ratings. These are changing aggregator snapshots, not fixed measures of quality, box-office performance or audience size.

Quick Recap

Film details

Detail Information
Runtime 1 hour 53 minutes, according to Rotten Tomatoes
Rating R, according to Rotten Tomatoes
Limited theatrical release May 24, 2024, according to Rotten Tomatoes
Streaming release June 7, 2024, according to Rotten Tomatoes
Streaming listing Netflix was listed by Rotten Tomatoes at the time accessed; availability depends on region and may change

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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