How do I know Glen Powell should be a movie star? My mother, who has seen approximately two films in a theater over the past three decades, is absolutely head over heels for the guy.
“He’s really hot,” she told me the other day, and I wasn’t sure if that was a comment on his looks or his success with films like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone But You.” I thought better than to ask for clarification.
The term "movie star" suggests the mere presence of a performer who can drive audiences to shell out money for tickets. My mom, who rarely leaves the family farm for any reason other than basic necessities, will almost certainly see Powell in the remake/sequel/requel “Twisters” later this summer.
Yet we don’t make movies stars like we used to. Streaming, shortened theatrical runs, and a focus on IP (like Marvel and "Harry Potter," for instance) seem to ensure it.Most movie stars who still exist are getting long in the tooth.
After pundits bemoaned the death of the moviegoing for the past month, they were promptly rebuked by healthy box-office numbers for “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” last weekend. People will still flock to the multiplex to see Will Smith in an action movie, as they have for nearly three decades now.
Which brings me back to Powell. He also had a new movie out last weekend. But you don’t have to leave your house to see it and that’s a real shame.
He’s the lead (as well as co-writer) of Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” which is funny and sexy and thrilling. Almost certainly it will be one of the best movies you will see all year.There’s solid laughs, wicked plot twists and steamy romance. It’s a true crowd-pleaser.
But what good is a crowd-pleaser without a crowd? If you watch “Hit Man” on Netflix, which is where it began streaming Friday, there’s no collective joy in the true(ish) story of a college professor (Powell) who goes undercover as a fake hitman to entrap criminals. Problems begin to arise when one potential customer (Adria Arjona) catches our mild-mannered protagonist with Cupid’s arrow. Things get pretty complicated awfully fast when romance enters the already-outrageous situation.
Despite the high-concept premise, “Hit Man” works on a multitude of levels. Linklater is a filmmaker who puts a lot of brains into his movies. Here, he sprinkles in lectures from Powell’s Gary Johnson as he talks about the illusion of identity, the role of the id and the ego, and dark desires to use violence for social acclimation.
In the wrong hands, this could be pretentious. Here it is enlightening, as it highlights the larger message of the story and the progression of the main characters.
With Powell, the actor is given a role many would kill for. Since he is brainy, research dictates his approach to each “job.” He assumes certain looks and accents in order to be more persuasive to his target. Wigs, bad teeth, and a license to be hammy. The whole thing is silly but effective. It made me laugh and shows that Powell is not just “hot,” but someone who can pull off multiple dynamics within one role.
But these identities become integral to the plot. When he meets Madison, his soon-to-be love interest, he becomes “Ron.” As they develop their relationship, Gary finds himself liberated by this character. But you also see him struggling to stay within the lines he has created as the situation becomes messier. The tension within the performance becomes thrilling in its own right.
The full development of Gary/Ron, and the skill put into developing Madison as a multi-dimensional character, also enhances their relationship. The love story works not just because the two leads look good without much on — though that doesn’t hurt. The audience is given a reason to care about them as the plot becomes more perilous.
One might say they don’t make romantic comedy thrillers like this anymore, but I will tell you that — when they made films like this routinely — none were ever as good as “Hit Man.”
In an industry with some desire to save the cinema-going experience, a studio would have picked up the independently-funded film, put some marketing money into it, and let the audience discover a film that truly has something for everyone. The audience would have laughed, gasped, and even clapped.
Yet the film industry seems quite keen on destroying itself despite an audience’s desire to go to the movies. “Hit Man” is a good example of bad marketing. Netflix picked it for a tidy profit and dumped it in a handful of theaters for a few weeks.How small was the theatrical release? You couldn’t see “Hit Man” in Columbia, Kansas City or St. Louis. In fact, you would have needed to go to the Alamo Drafthouse in Springfield just to catch it.
The theatrical success of “Hit Man” is speculative. But it is my belief that a film with these elements and this talent would be good for $50 to $60 million. Which would be a smash for its $8 million budget.Powell just had a surprise hit with “Anyone But You” last year on a small budget. Everyone assumed rom-coms were dead. But then that movie made a splash, and he and co-star Sydney Sweeney were a big part of the success. Movie stars don’t happen overnight. Their films need to find an audience. An audience has to get hooked.
That’s what happened with Will Smith in the 1990s and people will still show up to see him in a tank top driving fast cars. Will Powell have the same staying power given current circ*mstances? I doubt it.
He deserves better. Heck, my mom certainly deserves better.
James Owen is the Tribune’s film columnist. In real life,he is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. A graduate of Drury University and the University of Kansas, he created Filmsnobs.com, where he co-hosts a podcast. He enjoyed an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, and now regularly guests on Columbia radio station KFRU.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Glen Powell is our next great movie star —and why he deserves better
