A Review of 'How to Make a Killing': A Missed Opportunity for Black Comedy
'How to Make a Killing', starring Glen Powell as a working-class man seeking to reclaim his inheritance through murder, draws inspiration from the classic Ealing black comedy 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'. While Powell has previously played a shape-shifter in the assassination comedy 'Hit Man', the new film fails to capture the tonal balance of its predecessor. The review highlights the disappointment of an almost-remake that lacks the biting farce and chilling darkness to match its black comedy ambitions.
In the film, written and directed by John Patton Ford, Powell's character, Becket Redfellow, is an outcast from an ultra-wealthy family. The review suggests that the most compelling aspect of the film is the eventual confrontation between Becket and the Redfellow patriarch, Whitelaw Redfellow, played by Ed Harris. However, the tone of the film, which should have been Powell's signature glibness with an edge, falls flat, making the protagonist, Becket, uninteresting and the descent into serial killing unengaging.
The review also mentions the presence of Hollywood nepo babies, such as Margaret Qualley, the daughter of Andie MacDowell, and questions the film's lack of a meta twist. The lone standout of a forgettable cast is Noah Redfellow, played by Zach Woods, and Jessica Henwick, who gives the film a lift in a peripheral role. The review concludes by comparing 'How to Make a Killing' to Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice', a sensational satire about killing to get ahead, and suggests that the new film would have to bump off quite a few movies to move up the black-comedy ranks.
Despite the film's flaws, the review acknowledges the potential of Ford, who previously wrote and directed the excellent 2022 thriller 'Emily the Criminal'. The review encourages readers to form their own opinions and engage in discussion in the comments section.
