Plus: Love Is Blind, summer TV, and the NBA

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when Pat Sajak saw his last spin. It was the week when we heard about a musical it's surprising we didn't already have. And it was the week when the prequels just would not end. Let's get to it. 'Hit Man' was the good movie I didn't want Before Sunrise came out in 1995, and Glen Powell was born in 1988, so I can't quite say I have been a fan of Richard Linklater's approach to simple conversations since before Glen Powell was born. But I can say I've been a fan of that approach since Glen Powell was in elementary school. Now, Powell and Linklater have co-written Hit Man, the new Netflix movie Linklater directed and Powell stars in. Based (loosely!) on a true story, it follows Gary Johnson, a mild-mannered professor who moonlights as an undercover fake hit man for the New Orleans police. Whenever the police get a tip that some hapless yahoo has been asking around about having someone done in, they get Gary to pretend to be a killer for hire who just needs to nail down the details. When those details are nailed down and the money changes hands, the cops swoop in, and the arrest is effectuated. Read Aisha's take: As a fake 'Hit Man,' Glen Powell shows off his real star power Matt Lankes/Netflix Gary's life gets complicated when a beautiful woman named Madison (Adria Arjona) becomes Gary's next potential "client." But when he meets her, she reveals that she wants to have her husband killed because he's controlling and awful, and Gary doesn't really want her to get locked up. (Also, she's hot, which helps.) So he talks her out of it, and the story unfolds from there. Aisha wrote a really good review of the film, and I agree with absolutely everything she says. But as I talked about when we covered it on the podcast this week, I didn't enjoy the movie nearly as much as she did. Everything she says about it is right, but the experiences we had were completely different. And that's how you know you're in the tricky space of the good movie you didn't want. The big hint comes when Aisha describes the film as a "sexy, nihilistic comedy." Absolutely right on all counts. It's a comedy, it's sexy, and it's nihilistic. It turns out I only was excited about two of those things. There are times when I thoroughly enjoy a bleak-as-heck super-dark comedy; that's essentially what I thought Emerald Fennell's Saltburn was. But in this case, as I came to appreciate how grim Hit Man's view of the world really seemed, I felt my enthusiasm for the film deflate. There are a few things that may be at work there. One is the wrong word-of-mouth — even if it's good word-of-mouth. What I mean by that is that Hit Man has been available to audiences for a while, since it made the round of film festivals. And some of the many enthusiastic reactions to it described it as a "romantic comedy." I would not at all describe it as a romantic comedy! It is far too singularly focused on Gary to be a story about a couple. In fact, Linklater, in talking about the film's noir influences, said of a woman in such a movie, "[The female lead has] got to be hot because it's 100 percent from his perspective. She's got to be the one that he will risk everything he's worked for, and everything he owns, just to sleep with her." It feels deliberate, then, that while her charm, her sex appeal, and her quick wit are all on display, Madison's actual history, including as a woman in what was clearly a very bad marriage, is sketched very lightly, especially compared to how well we come to understand what makes Gary tick and what his talents are. The movie is the things that Linklater says it is — part noir, part sexy thriller, and so forth. But I would not call it a romantic comedy. And because I love romantic comedies and do not see enough good ones, the fact that I went in primed for something I wasn't going to get probably contributed to the problem. There's also the fact that a film always finds you at a particular place and time. Sometimes you're feeling pretty optimistic, and sometimes you're feeling pretty glum. Perhaps in a world that's been as rough as the one we've faced over the last five to 10 years (a global pandemic, climate emergencies, political upheaval, a ... complex media environment), I am not as eager to embrace sort of depressing outcomes as I might be otherwise. (I'm trying to talk about these outcomes without spoilers, obviously, but it's just kind of ... a sense that the world is lousy.) If I want to feel terrible, I just observe reality. I don't necessarily watch a sexy comedy to feel, you know, worse. And in the end, part of it is a simple matter of taste. For much of its run time, Hit Man was exactly up my alley: Powell is wonderful in it, just as movie-star charming as people say. There are snippets of conversation that are pure Linklater that delighted me, and the comic timing is excellent. (Also: What a joy to see Retta playing one of Gary's co-workers. She should be in everything funny.) But every movie has narrative choices, and some of the ones here bummed me out, for lack of a more precise critical term. The fact remains that I think they did exactly what they set out to do. In the writing, in the performances, in the directing, in the production design, I think they had a vision, and it was executed very, very well. And that kind of idiosyncratic precision is in short supply in a world of sequels and IP. If somebody told me they were sitting down to watch Hit Man, I'd say, "Oh, that one is fun, I hope you enjoy it." And I'd mean it! I admit, part of me would be thinking about the movie I wanted and didn't get — something more romantic-comedy-like, something more balanced between the two characters, something lighter in tone. But they didn't make the movie I wanted; they made the movie they wanted. And that, if you want uplift, is its own bit of good news. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend Whether or not you have ever taken an interest in Netflix's perplexing Love Is Blind, you may find something fascinating in Kathryn VanArendonk's reporting in Vulture on the show's process and its inherent contradictions — and the legal allegations against it. I did a good amount of reading on vacation, and one of the things I read, at the recommendation of writer Mark Harris, was the novel Everybody Knows. Mark described it as "A HUGELY nasty, dark, and effective showbiz-inflected L.A. noir thriller that knows what it's talking about." I entirely agree. I'd also point out it would make a heck of a double-bill with Maureen Ryan's instant nonfiction classic Burn It Down, which is newly in paperback. I hope you are reading Maris Kreizman's work at Lit Hub if you are a books person or even if you're not; her latest banger is a very smart, simple take on why books should have credits. Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More What We Did This Week What to watch this summer: Here are the TV shows we're looking forward to  We revisited our episode about The Sopranos with Glen, Aisha and Shea Vassar. Aisha, Glen, Eric Deggans and I all contributed to a rundown of the television we're all looking forward to this summer. I loved listening to Aisha and Gene Demby talking about the series Clipped, which is about Donald Sterling and the Clippers. I have wondered whether it would add anything to the podcast on which it's based; this discussion gave me some hints. Glen wrote a review of Julio Torres' Fantasmas, and if you don't feel like the headline alone enlivens your day, I don't know what to tell you. Glen also talked to Eric Deggans, J.C. Howard and Joelle Monique about Doctor Who and its new doctor. And I had a great time talking to Aisha, Stephen and Cate Young about the Netflix comedy Hit Man. There are a lot of great things about it, so it was fun to tease out what my misgivings about it were despite my high regard for everyone involved. Aisha also expanded on her thoughts in her review for NPR. Don't Forget to Vote And a reminder: We want to hear your opinions about summer snacks. Are you Team Iced Tea or Team Lemonade? What's the best treat at Dairy Queen? Click here to cast your votes. The results will be revealed at a virtual live event for Pop Culture Happy Hour+ supporters on Thursday, June 27 at 6:00 p.m Eastern. Sign up for PCHH+ at plus.npr.org/happyhour to get access to the event. (Once you've signed up for PCHH+, make sure to set up your special feed, where you'll see a special bonus episode from May 31 with instructions on how to register for the live event. Email plus@npr.org for any extra assistance.) What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: Aisha Harris: Queenie, on Hulu Stephen Thompson: The new teaser for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Cate Young: "Kill The Lights" by Alex Newell with Nile Rodgers Linda Holmes: The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy