“Killer”, review: one of the best comedies of the year came from the hands of Glen Powell

2024 will certainly be remembered for the return of comedies that combine several genres at once. From Specialistmixed with skill, action, humor and adventure, fantasy drama imaginary friends, exploring grief in comedic form. The truth is that cinema today has returned to some of its best classic offerings. All of this is supported by the story’s ability to weave multiple tones and rhythms at once. without losing the ability to make you laugh, cry or just think.

Nevertheless, killer (2024), which you can watch on Netflix, is undoubtedly the best plot-direction hybrid to come out in recent memory. Directed by Richard Linklater, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Glenn Powell of Anyone but you, in which he plays the main role, is a film adaptation of an article of the same name by journalist Skip Hollandsworth. The investigation, published in Texas Monthly in 2001, follows the actions of an alleged hitman admired and feared by much of the state police department. However, what begins as a consideration of institutionalized violence ends with a description of how alleged agent Gary Johnson not only lacked the authority of an official. He also had no shooting skills. How did he manage to remain unnoticed? According to Hollandsworth’s research, play and have a good time.

The essence of this crazy story comes to the big screen as a rare glimpse of twisted humor and a plot full of unexpected twists. The result is a story that hides its secrets as the main plot unfolds. Namely, Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a professor from New Orleans who occasionally collaborates with city agents. But what starts out as a technical service unexpectedly becomes a cover for Gary to pretend to be an undercover cop and then a murderer. And all this in the midst of what seems to be the greatest adventure of his life.

Chronicle of the disaster in “Hitman”

Of course, something like this is bound to go wrong. But before that, killer He gets the best out of his actor. Glen Powell, who until now has devoted himself to more or less similar roles, this time achieves a unique record. Not only because of his ability to transform, but also because he displays a humorous streak with surprising subtlety. Gary will discover that pretending to be a killer is just a stage act. which involves dressing up and pretending to be someone else from time to time.

killer achieves some of its best moments when Powell changes his wigs, clothes, accent when speaking and even his walk. The director makes the camera become a curious observer of this striking and unusual transformation. But the film isn’t just about a costume collection or what seems to be Gary’s eternal pastime. The plot becomes increasingly complex and has some dark undertones. Especially when its protagonist ends up becoming a chameleon who transforms for the glory of his seemingly harmless lies. For your first section killer showed that his cunning script is hidden behind the laughter, dangerous background and possible risk.

That’s exactly what will happen when Gary meets Madison (Adria Arjona, from Andor), who tries to recruit him for a mysterious mission. For the occasion, Gary transforms into Ron, a sort of stereotypical cocksure hitman who exudes sensuality. For Gary, this is another stage in his long exploration of his second personality. But for your future client, it’s about demanding—and paying for—an action that could change their life.

A Double Look at an Interesting Dilemma

One of the best points achieved killer It has the ability to go from an obvious romantic comedy to a quirky coming-of-age story. Gary, who could just be a clown or a lying con man depending on how the plot portrays him, is actually a lonely man at a difficult time in his adult life. Richard Linklater, a veteran of twisted stories that unfold slowly, uses a strange plot to reflect on loneliness. At the same time, it’s about how being an adult means becoming a cheap copy of—in Gary’s case—your best personal aspirations.

But killer She doesn’t preach or try to give ethics lessons. Instead, it uses action scenes – all of which are well done thanks to the use of two cameras – to create the feeling that many things are happening at once. Gary, who was only trying to have fun under the guise of a fake and harmless killer, finds himself in a chaotic situation. That when his life falls apart, he realizes that his life is a failure in many ways, and that the character he raised from a hitman answers the many silent sufferings in his life.

On the other hand, Madison takes Gary to places and experiences he never thought he could experience. And as if that wasn’t enough, they dissipate what the last one had in his life. The script then mixes a story about accepting life and its changes with some of the best action scenes of the year. In the final frames the film becomes more frantic and grumpy, but at the same time more profound. When the protagonist discovers that the masks and costumes have shown him parts of himself he didn’t know, this seemingly simple film becomes more intelligent and complex. His point of greatest interest and refined sense of the absurd.