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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Hit Man And What's Making Us Happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour

NPR

Books, Music, After Shows, Tv & Film, Film Reviews, News, Tv Reviews, Arts, Entertainment News, Music Commentary

4.510.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Netflix's entertaining dark comedy Hit Man is not about a hired killer. It's about a guy who pretends to be a hired killer. Director Richard Linklater co-wrote this film with movie star of the moment, Glen Powell. Based very loosely on a real guy, Powell plays a mild-mannered professor who also works undercover for the police as a fake hitman.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

What does it mean to be black in America?

0:04.3

And NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths,

0:07.3

a collection of stories as varied, nuanced, and dynamic as the Black experience, you'll hear it means everything.

0:15.0

Search NPR, Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get your podcasts. casts. not about a hired killer, it's about a guy who pretends to be a hired killer.

0:34.6

In fact, he pretends to be a great many different things, a great many different people,

0:39.8

who are all to be clear, hired killers.

0:42.6

The film stars Glen Powell as a mild-mannered professor who also works for the police

0:47.8

as an undercover fake hitman.

0:50.4

I'm Stephen Thompson.

0:51.8

And I'm Linda Holmes, and today we're talking about hitman on pop culture happy hour from NPR

0:56.8

Here with me and Stephen is our fellow co-host Iisha Harris. Hey Iisha

1:01.6

Hey Linda.

1:03.0

And also with us his podcast, producer and film and culture critic Kate,

1:06.7

Kate Yonge.

1:07.7

Hey Kate, always good to see you.

1:08.8

Hi again.

1:10.1

HitMan is directed by Richard Linklator, the quintessentially Texan filmmaker who did the Before trilogy

1:16.6

and Dazed and Confused, and Bernie,

1:18.7

which is maybe the most direct relative of Hitman.

1:21.4

He co-wrote the screenplay with movie star of the moment, Glenn Powell, who stars as Gary Johnson. Based pretty loosely on a real guy who was written up in Texas Monthly, Gary is a professor of philosophy who moonlights undercover for the police.

1:36.7

His specialty is pretending to be a hired killer.

1:40.4

When the police learned that somebody has been trying to hire a hitman they send in

...

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