[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s Mike Peros movie and TV reviews are Hit Man, The Great Lillian Hall, and MoviePass, MovieCrash.
There have been all kinds of “meet cutes” in romantic comedy, but I’m thinking Hit Man, the latest Richard Linklater film, is among the more imaginative. Working from a script by himself and star Glen Powell (in turn, based on an article by Skip Hollandworth), Hit Man tells the story of Gary (an engaging Powell), a philosophy professor who also works part-time (because of his expertise with tech matters) with the New Orleans Police Department. He and the team record meetings between an undercover cop (who poses as a hit man) and prospective clients—where the intent is to record them saying something incriminating, like “here’s ten thousand dollars, kill my husband” or words to that effect. (Before you say to yourself that this might be entrapment, the film considers that notion too—just not for very long.) Early in the film, the lead undercover cop Jasper (Austin Amelio) is suspended (for some bad behavior that went viral) and a reluctant but ultimately game Gary takes his place as the fake “hit man.”
It turns out that Gary has the requisite “bedside manner,” an ability to effect a new reassuring (albeit dangerous) persona coupled with the ability to elicit the most incriminating statements. Before you can say “John DeLorean,” Gary becomes an unofficial star in the Department (his skills depicted through a nicely done montage), establishing a different persona for each recorded meeting. And then, while undercover as “Ron,” he meets the lovely Madison Masters (Adria Arjona), a desperately unhappy wife who wants to use “Ron’s” skills to dispatch her hubby. It’s Ron’s response that ultimately leads to a budding romance between Madison and “Ron,” and of course, which leads to complications with his life, his position on the “team,” and his own thoughts on personality, identity, and a person’s capacity to change. This is all done with a good degree of humor, a great deal of romance (Powell and Arjona have tremendous chemistry—so much so that you’re pulling for them even as some potentially disturbing things develop), some suspense, and a few interesting twists along the way. I enjoyed Hit Man a great deal—it’s now on Netflix but if you see it in a theater, you won’t be disappointed.
Some of the more noteworthy films out there are currently on Max (formerly HBOMax). One is a surprise, as I’d seen little publicity about it, but The Great Lillian Hall, directed by Michael Cristofer from a script by Elizabeth Seldes Annacone, works on a few levels. It provides an interesting look at the pressures of the Broadway rehearsal process, but is also a powerful look at family relationships, friendship, aging—and fear—fear of losing one’s abilities, fear of losing both memory and mind. That it succeeds so well is because of a powerful, nuanced portrayal from Jessica Lange (currently on Broadway opposite Jim Parsons) as Lillian Hall, a famous stage actress struggling to make it to opening night of The Cherry Orchard, with a diminished memory and proclivity to delusions. Her assistant and best friend (Kathy Bates) is both stern and supportive, while Hall’s daughter (nicely played by Lily Rabe) has her own worries (her home, her tenuous relationship with Mom). While this goes down previously traveled roads (Opening Night being a good example), the excellence of the performances, script and direction provide for many a moving moment along the way.
Also on Max is MoviePass, MovieCrash, a documentary about the subscription service that attracted plenty of moviegoers in the mid-2010s. Perhaps some of you were subscribers—I was, and it was a pretty good deal for a while, what with the $9.95 monthly fee and the promise of seeing as many films as you can. While I’m not the most financially literate person, even when I took part I wondered how this could be sustainable. As it turns out, despite the plethora of subscribers (eventually reaching the millions), the site eventually crashed and burned—and the documentary tells you how and why. From the idealistic founders who had a vision (to bring moviegoers back to theaters), to the latecomers who engineered a takeover—and drove the company into the ground (partly because of profligate spending, and partly because of some decidedly illegal activities), MoviePass, MovieCrash succeeds as a cautionary tale of overreach and greed, with an undercurrent of race (as the ousted founders were both Black). There is a tentative happy ending, but only time will tell.