2023, Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise) -- download
Gary Johnson (Gary Powell, Hidden Figures) is a teacher of ethics & philosophy who also works part-time for the New Orleans police department as a tech guy. The sole objective of the squad is to con people into hiring a hitman, and then arresting the subjects. The whole thing seems very entrapment to me, the idea of stopping a crime before it happens, and surprisingly the movie only addresses the issue once, and briefly. Whatever, there seems to be a lot of people wanting other people dead in New Orleans, almost always for entirely personal reasons. The scuzzy cop who usually plays the hit man is put on paid suspension for unapologetically beating up some teenagers, and they have to stick Gary into the disguise. The suspension of disbelief continues with this sketchy squad in that they would put a civilian into a situation of harm, but Gary embraces the idea, taking to the hit man cosplay with gusto. He tailors each hitman to the client, applying research and human psychology to the ploy. This only increases my belief they are conning people into going through with the solicitation as his play acting actually increases their confidence and desire to have murder committed.
And then Gary, as Ron the cliche suave hit man, charismatic, dark but with a heart of gold, meets Madison (Adria Arjona, Person of Interest), an abused woman who wants her husband dead. Gary/Ron realizes she has many ways out of her terrible situation, so he encourages her to just escape instead of seeking murder. His coworkers at the police department are not happy. Scuzzy Cop Jasper (Austin Amelio, The Walking Dead), back from suspension but jealous of Gary who is now a better fake-hitman than he ever was, is doubly furious with Gary.
And then Gary gets a call from Madison, but as Ron. Not to go through with the hit, but to tell him she took his advice, got away from her husband and has a new life. They meetcute, they connect, they start a relationship. But as Ron and Madison, not Gary and Madison. Gary starts absorbing more of better dressed, more confident Ron and it shows in his real life, his teaching, his topics on ethics.
Eventually it all catches up with Gary, not surprisingly after Madison actually kills her ex-husband. Gary has to come clean with her, and while she is furious, he also does his best to coach her out of being caught. Of course, Jasper has caught on and.... <blink blink> they put him down. And then they go on to live happily ever after.
It took me that long to realize we were watching a dark romcom, almost into the satire vein. Sure, Gary the ethics teacher, talks about how we make choices, how we can accept one bad behaviour in order to encourage other better behaviours, how our choices make us who we are. Everyone, including Nice Guy Gary, are making ethically dark-gray choices here, but always in comparison to light-black choices being made by other characters. The movie doesn't really explicitly explore these ideas, but through your observations, it lets you think about them. Do you accept Gary and Maddie's behaviour? Do you accept the squad's actions? Do you accept the people hiring a hit man, even when they may feel their own justifications? The movie leaves all of that up to you.
As for the romcom, Linklater nails that. They are a hot couple. Powell really embraces the role, and while any actor can put on a funny costume and affect a funny voice, when you see him accidentally slip back into the Gary character, you realize he is actually acting. And his connection with Madison is instant and strong. Madison, obviously attracted to bad boys (as much a cliche as the hitmen here) is va va voom hot and willing to be hotter with Ron. After the milk soggy cookie (mis)connection of Anyone But You, I was glad for a romcom that made me raise an eyebrow.
I am not sure you mentioned she was hot enough times...
I liked the movie more than Kent did.
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