Richard Linklater is known for both small-budget, big hitting films like ‘Dazed and Confused’ and box-office hits such as ‘School of Rock’. His latest film, ‘Hit Man’, is a comedic thriller starring Glen Powell as the mild-mannered Gary Johnson. He is a college professor who leads an extraordinary double life working undercover for the police as a fake hitman. We meet director Richard Linklater and hear from ‘Monocle on Culture’ regular Hannah Strong for her take on the film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to Monocle on Culture.
I'm Robert Bound.
On today's show, we're hearing from the beloved American film director and auteur Richard Linklater.
Linklater's slew of small budget, big fan base indie movies such as Dazed and Confused, the before trilogy and Boyhood have cemented his status as a movie maker extraordinaire.
And that's not even mentioning smash hits at the box office like School of Rock.
Well, Linklater's latest film on its surface diverges from the quieter coming of age themes that he's mostly known for.
Hitman is a comedic thriller starring and indeed a star turn from Glen Powell.
It's a riotous modern twist on the screwball genre and a lot of fun.
As well as hearing from Linklater himself, we'll catch up with Monocle on Culture regular Hannah Strong for her take on whether Hitman is indeed a hit.
Stay tuned, that is all.
Coming up, Hitman tells the story of Gary Johnson, a tale that was first told by writer Skip Hollingsworth in Texas monthly back in 2001.
Mild mannered Gary is a college professor and does stints helping out the police with their tech on sting operations.
Well, everything changes one day when he's asked to fill in for a cop posing as a hitman.
Gary realizes he's an expert at embodying the person someone's dreamed up when they've searched out the services of a hitman aided by some camp new outfits and disguised voices.
But things get heated when he dissuades potential client Madison from taking out a hit on her abusive husband and begins to fall for her himself.
In the following clip, you'll hear the voice of Gary as he reflects on his new vocation.
And the second voice is also Gary's, under the guise of one of his many hitman aliases.
You know, I was always too shy to go out for the high school play, but I had somehow found my stage and each arrest was like a standing ovation.
We're about to go into the deep end of the pool here.
This is serious.