Disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, blue-collar Becket Redfellow will stop at nothing to reclaim his inheritance, no matter how many relatives stand in his way.
From writer/director John Patton Ford comes a black comedy crime thriller with something of an identity crisis. “How to Make a Killing” wants to be satire, a murky noir thriller, and black comedy all at once. What it ends up being is a forgettable mess, and another disappointment from Glen Powell, after last November’s “The Running Man” (which also tackled themes of classism) pulled its punches.
The laughs start early, but drop off quickly as we’re given background on why someone like Beckett would weather a rough upbringing and years of poverty and loss with one thing on his mind—the $28 billion inheritance he is legally entitled to as the youngest descendant of the obnoxiously wealthy Redfellow family. He’s endured enough to justify a little righteous anger.
Beckett has no shortage of inventive ways to off people. He has a handle on chemistry as well—watching him express his inner Walter White never gets old. But in the end, Powell can’t charm his way out of a shoddy script. The actors playing the relatives (targets) vary from character actors to people like Topher Grace, whose Pastor Steven Redfellow would be right at home in a season of “The Righteous Gemstones.”
His second assassination leads him to Noah Redfellow, an NYC art scene kid. This is where the film grinds to a halt. Simply put, the scenes with Beckett meeting his estranged cousin Noah (played by Zach Woods, who has “The Office” and “Silicon Valley” under his belt) should be funnier than they are. Thankfully, we don’t have to endure that for long. Beckett develops a relationship with Ruth (Jessica Henwick), the late Noah’s ex-girlfriend. The two have genuine chemistry, but their romance isn’t given much time to breathe; this is where the narrative really spends too much time on the wrong things.
Glen Powell has seen success with “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Twisters,” now he’s at a point in his career where he’s striving to achieve viability as the sole leading man and it’s just not working.
The bleak subject matter would go down easier if this movie had struck the right tone. Instead, this is a movie of periodic highs that never fully resolves into a cohesive or memorable black comedy. I wanted to enjoy it, but instead I admired it in fragments.
In Theaters Friday, February 20th
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