How to Make a Killing
- Ben Pivoz
- a few seconds ago
- 3 min read
How to Make a Killing is a dark comedy about murder, class and love. It is a loose remake of the 1949 classic Kind Hearts and Coronets. That was a farce about a jaded young man killing everyone in the family that disowned his mother before he was born so he can claim the massive inheritance he feels is rightfully his. The new movie has the same plot, transplanted to modern day New York. It contains a lot of the same twists, while treating its protagonist as more of a victim than in the original. Where Kind Hearts is smart and hilarious, Killing is contrived and kind of amusing. It is likable enough, with some genuinely funny stretches.
It is entertaining when we’re just watching the lead carry out his plan. It doesn’t work as well when the plot mechanics kick in. What really makes it inferior isn’t the relative lack of wit (though that is noticeable); it is the large decrease in charm. Its predecessor knew its main character was getting what he deserved. This one almost seems to care for him. He’s not self-satisfied or angry enough. He’s a generally nice guy killing annoying people. It doesn’t stay consistently dark, trying too hard to get us to root for this guy. That takes some of the fun away and makes the ironic ending doubly unsatisfying.
Becket Redfellow was raised knowing there is a sizeable inheritance waiting for him. His mother was heir to the Redfellow fortune, despite being banished from the family for refusing to get an abortion at eighteen. Tired of being patient for those in line above him to die, Becket decides to take matters into his own hands.
The biggest issue with How to Make a Killing (98 minutes, without the end credits) is there isn’t enough bite to it. Nothing about Becket screams “sociopath,” yet he doesn’t seem to feel any guilt about the heinous acts he is committing. It seems that we’re supposed to like him. Glenn Powell is a likeable fellow, but he is so bland in this role that it is no fun watching him. It is difficult to believe he cares that much. Why is he going to the trouble to do this? There is no drive here. Everything is so casual and dispassionate coming from his character. That leaks out to the rest of the movie, making it feel curiously detached from its own intentions.
Some of the schemes are clever and the small roles for the relatives are funny (especially Zach Woods as an oblivious, pretentious artist). Unfortunately, the story hinges too much on a character who feels exclusively like a convenient plot device. That would be Margaret Qualley’s Julia, a childhood acquaintance of Becket, who he was in love with. Or still is? Her actions make more sense if he is, but the screenplay never explores that possibility. He seems intrigued by her but, once he finds out she is married, he never reaches out. She keeps the association going, messing with him as though she is stringing him along. Yet he basically acts like she doesn’t exist whenever they aren’t talking, so I am not really sure what we are supposed to think is happening.
Powell has good chemistry with Jessica Henwick as a sweet schoolteacher he develops a bond with. Could their relationship get him to stop his murderous ways? It is an interesting thought. However, the movie always finds awkward ways to insert the manipulative Julia back into the action, making it clear she is the most important woman in the story, despite never putting in the work to make her connection with Becket feel real.
How to Make a Killing tries to be a new spin on an old masterpiece. It just isn’t tight, dark or bold enough to make more than a passing impact.
3 out of 5
Cast:
Glen Powell as Becket Redfellow
Margaret Qualley as Julia
Jessica Henwick as Ruth
Zach Woods as Noah Redfellow
Ed Harris as Whitelaw Redfellow
Bill Camp as Warren Redfellow
Written/Directed by John Patton Ford