Denied a huge inheritance by his billionaire grandfather (Ed Harris), working man Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) hatches a murderous plan to rightfully claim his wealth.
Wall Street broker Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) begins How To Make A Killing on death row. Four hours from execution, he retells his story to a priest (Adrian Lukis): once the heir to the multi-billion-dollar Redfellow fortune,Becket has had a tougher life than one would imagine, given his birthright. After his mother (Nell Williams) refuses to abort him, her father Whitelaw (Ed Harris) disowns them both and ejects them from the family mansion. Mother and child then move to Belleville, New Jersey, where a life of mediocrity beckoned for Becket.
Such a life might make for a pretty tedious movie, though, so, naturally Becket’s imagination is sparked when he bumps into his mischievous childhood-almost-sweetheart Julia (Margaret Qualley) while working in a New York City tailor. She hints that he’d snag her if he had that Redfellow cash, and Becket figures he’ll kill off the eight relatives in line for the family fortune before him — and steal Julia from her fiancé into the bargain. That sounds like a waymore fun film. And to an extent, it is.
The megawatt charisma of rising superstars Powell and Qualley, alongside some dry humour and no-nonsense pacing as Becket dispatches his estranged relatives, keep things entertaining enough.
Writer-director John Patton Ford’s sizzling 2022 feature debut Emily The Criminal proved he could tell a fast, sharp and funny story about street-level crime, in exciting fashion, with some depth, on a low budget. For this loose reimagining of Ealing classic Kind Hearts And Coronets, he’s given a more expansive cast, locations and money to spend. The megawatt charisma of rising superstars Powell and Qualley, alongside some dry humour and no-nonsense pacing as Becket dispatches his estranged relatives, keep things entertaining enough. Yet the overall piece is only decent rather than outstanding.
The set-pieces in which Becket bumps off his family are executed in brisk, amusing fashion — in particular, the boat-based offing faced by lairy Wolf Of Wall Street-esque clown Taylor (Raff Law) and the dark-room death of Brooklyn hipster-photographer douchebag Noah (Zach Woods). Yet we’ve seen these characters, played straight or for laughs, many times before on screen. We’ve even seen Glen Powell don a multitude of disguises, as he does here, in a better, recent film: 2023’s Hit Man. How To Make A Killing is crying out for something as unique and ambitious as Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts And Coronets, in which Guinness played all eight family members in line for the chop. Sadly, nothing quite so unusual occurs this time around.
This game and glitzy American redo of a British comedy great contains some fun and thrills but never quite explodes into brilliance. One to consider rather than run to.
