ru_rahman Reviews

Hit Man (2023)

Linklater's new "screwball film noir"

[10/10 · 7 October 2023]

Hitman is definitely a film-lover's paradise but even the casual film viewer will thoroughly enjoy this brilliant new movie. Linklater's latest lovingly pays homage to film noir, screwball comedy, Hitchcockian black comedy and even the good old psychosexual drama but it still somehow manages to conjure up a fresh, witty and often uproarious confection that frequently teases, delights and occasionally thrills the audience with frissons of excitement, keeping them enraptured all the way to its deliciously razor sharp ending.

This is potentially a star-making turn for Glen Powell. Although he made a strong impression in Top Gun: Maverick as a cocky rival pilot, his role in Hit Man is easily more complex and, as the co-writer of the script, he has been able to add brilliant layers to his character, or should that be characters? In effect, Powell is playing more than one character - Gary Johnson, mild-mannered, cat-loving geeky Psychology professor and audio techie who moonlights as a surveillance expert for a Louisana-based police unit that targets and stings hapless ne'er-do-wells who are looking to hire a killer. Before the next sting operation, Gary's police colleague Jasper (Austin Amelio) who normally pretends to be the hired killer is suspended for brutally attacking two youths, which forces Gary's colleagues (brilliantly played by Retta and Sanjay Rao) into convincing Gary to take over from the universally loathed Jasper, much to Gary's dismay. Yet, within minutes of taking on the task, Gary suddenly morphs into "Ron" and during his first sting he is so convincing that his colleagues are shocked, even though they had believed he could do it having heard Jasper go through the rigamarole on previous occasions. It is a brilliant piece of acting.

Having created the killer persona, Gary soon finds himself becoming more and more immersed in Ron, adding further, chameleon-like layers of disguise and character traits to mirror whoever is about to be stung. However, things become really complicated (in true film noir style) when "Ron" is approached by a femme fatale, Maddy (beautifully played by Adria Ajrona who also adds a delightfully a kooky sexy edge as well as a tender vulnerability). As the sparks between the two begin to fly during a hilarious but flirty exchange, Gary, who is clearly enjoying himself as Ron, finds himself conflicted. Dare he. As Ron, continue with the sting and have Maddy arrested for plotting to murder her husband? Has the flirtatious exchange caused Maddy to betray some regrets about what she is doing? The chemistry between Powell and Arjona is a pleasure to witness. Both actors bring out the best in one another and it is thrilling.

Off-beat is an expression that would certainly apply to Hit Man - and it is a compliment. It is also one of the most enjoyable and fun 2 hours I've had in the cinema in the past few years. I absolutely adore this film.

Billy Liar (1963)

A watershed moment in British cinema

[10/10 · 6 October 2018]

I recently had the pleasure of watching this on the big screen at the BFI Southbank cinema as part of its lengthy Working Class Heroes season. Despite its age and subject matter, "Billy Liar" is a priceless time capsule of North England, particularly Yorkshire, emerging from post-war austerity and on the cusp of Beatlemania. Indeed, Beatlemania, the seismic cultural and social phenomenon that began in the same year that "Billy Liar" was released, is the primal scream that is palpable in this film and in the original Keith Waterhouse novel as well as in other works from this era.

If we use the Beatles' early album as an analogy then the young stars of the film (Tom Courtney and Julie Christie particularly) are the band while John Schlesinger the director is akin to George Martin, the older but supportive mentor who recognises, embraces and is inspired by the revolution in the air. And like the Beatles, Courtney and Christie and Schlesinger shot to international fame and acclaim as Hollywood came knocking on the door. Schlesinger's direction is inventive and fresh, thrusting the audience into the unnamed Northern town by shooting on location in the city centre and in the real suburban neighbourhoods where Billy (Tom Courtney in a breakout performance) and his friends live with their parents.

We are also privy to Billy's constant retreats to Ambrosia, the fantasy country in his mind where Billy is king and loved by all. His anger and frustration also feed into his wild imagination as he daydreams of machine-gunning down his detractors, especially his parents and grandmother. But it's his lies which are ultimately the most destructive in the real world, particularly to those close to him.

Billy's lies are, of course, his rebel yell at the nothingness of his life and his fear of a meaningless and dull future in the same town, knowing the same people and becoming imprisoned in comfort and familiarity. His only kindred spirit is Liz (Julie Christie) whose own act of rebellion is to actually escape from their hometown and really visit different places and have relationships with other people, making her the more streetwise of the two. Although Billy's actions and behaviour are reprehensible, you can't help but empathise and once Liz excites Billy with the notion of running away together, you want nothing more than to see them get away, much like Ben and Elaine in "The Graduate" (1967).

So while the film and source novel are very much of their time, like the Beatles' early albums it is still possible to appreciate and enjoy the exuberance, dynamism and energy that is a hallmark of this film and of those albums.

But when watched from today's perspective, Billy would now be a dangerous daydreamer and fantasist like Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who imagines himself as Tommy Robinson the defender of British democratic values but in reality a fascist football hooligan with delusions of grandeur and screaming for attention. When Billy machine guns down his enemies, one can see Yaxley-Lennon with visions of machine gunning down Muslims and left-wingers.