TORONTO (AP) 鈥� There's been no shortage of hit-man movies at film festivals this fall. You could line them up on a rooftop somewhere, each with their sniper rifles aimed out at audiences: David Fincher's 鈥淭he Killer,鈥� Michael Keaton's 鈥淜nox Goes Away," Harmony Korine's 鈥淎ggro Dr1ft.鈥�
But the one that has most resonated 鈥� killed, you might say 鈥� has been a gentler, funnier take on the genre that says right up front: The hired hit man is a Hollywood myth.
Richard Linklater's " stars Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, in sting operations to catch would-be murders looking for someone to do their dirty work.
The film takes Johnson's true story and has some fun with it. Gary, thrust into his faux-hit-man role, dons increasingly colorful personas and finds himself in an especially tricky conundrum of selfhood after falling for a wife (Adria Arjona) who wants her husband dead.
The film, which played at both the Venice and Toronto festivals, is an extremely entertaining showcase for the charismatic Powell, the 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� star who co-wrote the script with Linklater.
For Linklater, the 63-year-old director of 鈥淒azed and Confused鈥� and 鈥淏efore Sunset,鈥� 鈥淗it Man鈥� is a typically existentialist film but playfully twisted into a genre-bending noir screwball. Linklater also made the film without a distributor. 鈥淗it Man鈥� is for sale at TIFF, and 鈥� given the response 鈥� may be the hottest property at the festival.
鈥淚t used to be the head of studio would sit down with you, talk, maybe say, 鈥業 think you鈥檝e got the movie in you. Let鈥檚 do it.鈥� Now, they don't even want to hear from you. You鈥檙e up against algorithms and marketing in advance,鈥� says Linklater. 鈥淪o it was kind of great to go: 鈥楲et鈥檚 just make the movie and bet on ourselves.鈥欌��
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AP: Around your Venice premiere, you said an era of filmmaking was 鈥済one with the wind 鈥� or gone with the algorithm.鈥� Is it that bleak?
LINKLATER: I鈥檓 a very optimistic person. It鈥檚 an optimistic business. It鈥檚 a good time to be a filmmaker. I鈥檓 not a pessimist by nature. But you have to acknowledge changing times. I鈥檝e seen it change over the years, we all have. My thing is trying to get outside our little insular world. The attack is on human consciousness. It has a formidable opponent in something grabbing our brains and grabbing our attention.
AP: That idea was present in your last film, the animated for Netflix, which fondly recalled a less structured, pre-digital upbringing.
LINKLATER: Yeah, it was kind of an analog, free-range childhood where you really had to make your own fun. Nothing was catered to you. There were very few movies or TV shows that catered to kids. You find your way in. They weren鈥檛 just spoon-feeding you. They saw kids as a nuisance or a thing to be put up with, not such a market.
AP: The question of how much people change seems to hover over your films. 鈥淏辞测丑辞辞诲,鈥� filmed over an 12-year period, seemed designed to measure change in your actors.
LINKLATER: Yeah, I think so. Identity or the development of self. It鈥檚 hard to inject that into a narrative. This one, it wasn鈥檛 so much in the article I read for 鈥淗it Man鈥� in 2001. It鈥檚 really more in the flight of fancy part. I was always in the school 鈥� they talk about it in 鈥淏efore Sunset鈥� 鈥� saying you can change but you have your set points. I鈥檝e always been on that. I鈥檓 as happy as I can be given my set points. I had more recently read stuff that said you can change quite a bit. But can you really tweak up that dial? I would like to be different.
AP: How so?
LINKLATER: Everything you say, you can always follow with, 鈥淭hen I wouldn鈥檛 be me.鈥� But I wish I enjoyed things that other people seem to enjoy so much.
AP: Like what?
LINKLATER: Oh, I don鈥檛 know. The big premiere of your movie. (Laughs) Going to awards show. Dressing up. Being on. I鈥檇 really rather be watching a movie or reading. I have the opposite of FOMO. I don鈥檛 really want to be anywhere. (Laughs)
AP: Your films have a rare amiability and gentleness to them. How does that get filtered in?
LINKLATER: If you take things really serious or it鈥檚 a big deal, then it鈥檚 a big deal in your film. I don鈥檛 really take anything too seriously. I鈥檓 kind of like, 鈥淓h.鈥� I just can鈥檛 do certain things with a straight face. It鈥檚 all stupid. As an old-school existentialist, I just go through life with a certain detached, fun, irony. Engaged. I care about a lot of things. But I鈥檓 not that invested in outcomes. I don鈥檛 believe mostly in fictional plotting. That鈥檚 why it was interesting to be a little more plotty, to be more in some genres I鈥檓 mashing up. Plotting I鈥檝e always said is just fake. It鈥檚 not how life works. We don鈥檛 have plot-driven lives. We have character-driven lives.
AP: Here, you're kind of mocking the idea of one of Hollywood's favorite plots.
LINKLATER: I鈥檝e had to talk about this with the movie now. 鈥淗it men don鈥檛 exist?鈥� Of course they don鈥檛 exist. Do the math. Do you ever hear about hit men getting arrested? They don鈥檛 exist at the retail level. The notion that someone you鈥檝e never met who鈥檚 this icy professional you meet for five minutes is going to risk the death penalty. (Laughs) I think as a culture we have to believe in it. We enjoy believing in it.
AP: Could you tell Powell had something special when you cast him at 14-year-old for a small role in 鈥淔ast Food Nation鈥�? The real revelation was
LINKLATER: That was the big leap. For 鈥淔ast Food Nation,鈥� I mean, I cast him out of hundreds of kids. I went: 鈥淭hat guy鈥檚 kind of interesting to play this small part. There鈥檚 something about that kid.鈥� But it was when he came back on 鈥淓verybody Wants Some!鈥� he was just fully formed. Anyone who knows Glen knows he鈥檚 a star. I think the times we鈥檙e living in, the industry isn鈥檛 as invested in creating stars as much. Maybe they don鈥檛 want to pay 鈥檈m.
AP: What do you think changed?
LINKLATER: Well, there鈥檚 a lot of YouTube stars. They鈥檙e coming from everywhere. It used to be that movies and music was it. Now, this century has produced famous people that we鈥檒l never know or hear about. There鈥檚 a glut, and in our industry there鈥檚 a shortage.
AP: Your films have launched quite a few stars so you've watched it happen. What does it take?
LINKLATER: I鈥檝e worked with a lot of people over the years and think, 鈥淚f things break right for them or they get that part...鈥� But planets have to align. You鈥檝e got to kind of get lucky. You have to get that right part at the right time. Kind of like Matthew (McConaughey) with 鈥淎 Time to Kill.鈥� He had been in a bunch of movies. Even Glen, I knew he was up for certain parts in different movies and I was like, 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 cast Glen against that stiff?鈥�
AP: So in this age of the algorithm, do you still enjoying moviemaking?
LINKLATER: When it鈥檚 in my control, I love it. I love everything about making movies. 鈥淎pollo 10 1/2,鈥� I loved that whole experience. It was such a personal experience. And then one day it showed up on a platform with no fanfare. It鈥檚 always kind of sad when you realize even your friends don鈥檛 know your film is out. To me, if anything good happens from this stage on, it鈥檚 just lucky. You know there鈥檚 an audience for your movie, it鈥檚 just whether they find it. I鈥檝e never made a film that I didn鈥檛 think people would like. Even some strange, weird-ass film, you think, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a way this could catch on.鈥� You gotta be a little delusional. I鈥檓 good at self-delusion. (Laughs) It鈥檚 what keeps me going.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
