Netflix’s Most Popular New Movie Is Getting Rave Reviews, But ‘Hit Man’ Is Pretty Bad
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Erik Kain
Hit Man is a massive hit with critics and audiences alike and it doesn't make any sense.
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Forbes
Updated 06.10.24 — See updates below.

I have never been more confused by the reception of a film than I am by Netflix’s new comedy-drama Hit Man, a film by longtime director Richard Linklater. The movie is scoring big with critics (who aren’t named Erik Kain) and audiences alike, and over at Reddit, the reviews are glowing.

I am baffled. I am utterly mystified. It’s like the entire world went crazy and left me—and just a small handful of others—behind. What’s going on? The critics must be crazy, sure, but the audiences along with them this time!

Usually, when I really like something that the rest of my peers seem to hate, the audiences also tend to like it. Or I see the opposite divide, and critics really like something—like The Acolyte—but audiences can’t stand it. I usually find myself on one side of a controversial movie, either agreeing with critics and disagreeing with audiences—like The Green Knight—or the other way around.

It is a very rare day when a movie is beloved by both critics and audiences that I find myself standing over here scratching my head and asking “Why?” Why do people like this movie so much? It’s . . . really not good. And hey, maybe if this was a debut picture from some starry-eyed newcomer who had never been behind a camera before, written by a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed brand-new screenwriter, I could cut it some slack. But Linklater directed Dazed and Confused over 30 years ago, and School Of Rock and Boyhood and Before Sunrise (and the other two films in that trilogy) and plenty of other classics.

This feels like amateur hour to me. As I noted in my review, it feels like three different films awkwardly stitched together: The oddball comedy, where Glen Powell’s character Gary Johnson dresses up in silly costumes and takes on goofy personas to hoodwink criminals in his fake hit man act; the rom-com bit (that critic Jason Fraley hilariously described as “Fifty Shades Of Gary”); and the final fake film noir bit that really convinced me that this movie had no clue what it wanted to be. For a film about identity, Hit Man has none.

So why do all these critics and moviegoers have such a crush on it? Is it the handsome, easy charm of leading man Glen Powell? Is it the sizzling good looks of Adria Arjona? At least Powell gets to be funny. Arjona is basically a character without any personality. She’s given no backstory, no life to explore, no character development. She just shows up and looks hot. And in the third act, when she had the opportunity to surprise us as a ruthless femme fatale, it’s all a fakeout. She’s just a damsel in distress, after all—albeit a murderous one.

I don’t get it. I also don’t mean to belabor the point, but I’ve just never witnessed anything like this before. This is a 7/10 on a good day. I’d give it two stars out of four, feeling generous. If I’d seen this in theaters and you’d asked me to give you a prediction on its Rotten Tomatoes score, I’d say 65% with critics and maybe 70% with audiences. And that’s not because it’s a good movie, but because it’s an easy, mostly feel-good movie with attractive leads. What gives?

Here’s my video review of the film:

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Update 06.10.24

It’s interesting. I’ve received such enormously positive feedback on this post and my first review (and on my video review above). Sure, I’ve received a few messages and read some comments that boil down to something like “You are a terrible movie reviewer and you don’t understand the brilliance of Linklater’s movies and you should go throw yourself off a cliff” (I may be exaggerating) but by and large it’s some version of “Thank you so much for writing this! I thought I was going crazy! I watched this with my wife/husband/etc. and we both were so disappointed!”

I’ll be honest, I think the last time I had this big of a positive reaction to something I’d written in this vein it was probably the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy when the whole #RetakeMassEffect movement kicked off and I was one of the few journalists pushing back against the “gamers are entitled narrative.” Totally different ballgame, I realize.

In any case, I find that this reaction from readers and viewers is almost as unusual as the Rotten Tomatoes score, and I think they really go hand-in-hand. Something isn’t right. It’s not that I begrudge anyone for enjoying the movie (except when they decide that my differing opinion means I ought to be fired or something) it’s just that so many people genuinely seem to dislike it, and not for any political reasons, that I’m not sure how to reconcile that audience score.

When I actually go to the Rotten Tomatoes user score page and read reviews, many of them are very negative. How is it still at 93% exactly? Many of the user reviews are as much about the high Rotten Tomatoes score as they are about the film itself:

“A slow progression of a weak plot. An attractive cast does not make up for a lack of authenticity. What a boring film.”

“Pretty bland fare as seems usual at the moment. Cant understand the mega high rating?”

“I’m VERY surprised that the ratings are so high for this movie…while it ain’t bad, it definitely is t that good either! Glen Powell is actually very good in this, but the story line itself has potential….BUT, it’s too clunky with no real flow. There are moments when you think it’s going to ramp up, but it never does. The ending is very weak at best.”

“It's just bad. Rotten Tomatoes and their rating are getting worse by the month.”

“A pretentious and predictable romcom written for adolescents in psyche 101 jargon. It's so not deserving of its 97% rating that I am writing my first RT review to suggest that the system is rigged. It reminds me of latest season of True Detective which also garnered a 97% on arrival. Its ratings sunk precipitously afterwards only when it became impossible reconcile the idiotic critical praise with actual audience feedback.”

Others find it morally reprehensible:

“Morally corrupt in the end, and then they run off and get married and start raising kids. Give me a break. Watching this movie is like eating a bunch of empty calories. It looks good but can't recommend it.”

I absolutely hated this movie. How can someone just knowingly defend someone else who has committed murder then out of some sense of "love" murder another human passing ALL judgement on him as he is in that moment? I really wanted to like this movie & the characters, but the idea and story are unforgiving & unforgivable as "good theater."

Others say it’s just plain boring or a letdown:

“Powell and Arjona have good chemistry and there is a sexual flirting tension that modern hollywood lacks Is not bad but is prettty boring and long and really not cinematic at all. It seems low budget and quickly shot without any contribution from the director”

“I like Powell, he is a little too similar to Ryan Gosling but he is still enjoyable to watch. I also like Linklater, so I came into this with high hopes. It had a strong start but then fizzled out pretty rapidly. Quite a let down”

And these are all reviews taken from the very first page of user reviews (as of this writing). Again, I’m confused by how this has fared so well when so many of the reviews on just one page are negative. 12 out of 20 on the first page alone have less than 3 stars out of 5. Something is rotten in the state of Rotten Tomatoes, folks.