Loose adaptions can be hit or miss, but I often favor ones that put the loose front and center over direct, unnecessary remakes. It can allow a filmmaker to give us a different take on a familiar story, adding their own visual flare and new ideas that aren’t tied to improving upon the original but merely reimagining them. Unfortunately for “How To Make A Killing,” it does neither. And worse, it removes all of the strengths of its inspiration, leaving you with nothing to remember and nothing to really say for itself.
It’s not bad by any stretch, but it’s certainly no “Kind Hearts and Coronets.” There’s no replacing Alec Guinness playing 8 different characters and you’d be quite foolish to even attempt to do so even with your leading man’s affinity for costumes and disguises. But “How To Make a Killing” removes all sense of wit and whimsy that makes this satire of the rich and pursuit of wealth so intriguing, leaving it with very little commentary on its own framework and not really saying anything at all about the 1 Percenters it’s supposedly mocking.
I’m a huge fan of “Emily the Criminal,” a taut, gritty thriller that has plenty to say about the workforce economy and the struggles of the hustle in America. John Patton Ford has proven to be a capable writer and director, but his “How To Make A Killing” follow up feels like a regression. It’s not really dark enough to be a satire or comedy, not engaging enough to be a thriller, and sadly not really much of anything to stay with you when the lights go on in the theater. This is all really harsh, but it’s important to note the flaws before we dive into what works. Because what works is people working overtime to make it so, desperately trying to elevate material that just simply isn’t there. Ford should be treating a simple premise like “How To Make A Killing” like a playground, having a blast building new sand castles in a sandbox. Instead, he opts to stick to convention without variance, staying way too true to the working title and offering little to no surprises.
It is indeed, “How To Make A Killing.” The film follows Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell), the bastard son and disowned heir to the Redfellow fortune somewhere in the ballpark of $28 billion. Resting on the dying words of his mother to never stop pursuing the life he deserves, he decides to start removing heirs off the list to better his chances and thus begin his climb to the top, knocking off cousins, aunts, and uncles one by one. Of course there’s a surprise love interest in Ruth (Jessica Henwick) and a classic femme fatale in Julia (Margaret Qualley) and a real father/son relationship with his uncle Warren (an ever reliable Bill Camp), all of which come between him and his pursuit of of the good life. The amount of fun and noir and cat and mouse that is baked into the premise of “How To Make a Killing” are endless, so it’s a shame that Ford chooses none of them and ultimately plays it as safe as he possibly can.
I think we need to have a talk with Glen Powell and get him away from projects that require him to carry films on his back uphill both ways. His effortless charm and uncontainable magnetism are enough to barely drag this bare bones outing across the finish line. “How to Make a Killing” doesn’t work at all without Powell giving it everything he has, and frankly I’d like to see him not have to do that constantly. It’s not even that he’s not used correctly; it’s the perfect kind of role for him as a softer Patrick Bateman-esque nobody killing his way to the top of the food chain. But all throughout “How to Make A Killing” you aren’t really rooting for Beckett as much as you’re just enjoying Powell onscreen, and because there really isn’t a conclusive takeaway by the end of it all there isn’t a protagonist. Just a really charming performer overdosing on charm in a performance.
“How to Make a Killing” does give us Femme Fatale Margaret Qualley, something I didn’t know I needed in my life until now. She’s used a little too sparingly here, but I can forgive that because whenever she’s deviously scheming its a real treat. Topher Grace as a grifter mega church pastor is pretty fun, and I’ll never scoff at a Bill Camp appearance, either. The star power is enough to make “How To Make a Killing” a fun watch in the moment, I just wish Ford would’ve taken a few more risks with the material. I was left asking what am I supposed to get from this? Is money the root of all evil but we should hoard it anyway? Absolute power corrupts absolutely? Money can’t buy happiness but also yes it can? “How to Make a Killing” is thematically confusing and wouldn’t be if it were actually the satirical dark comedy it was clearly pitched as.
I kept waiting for it to kick into high gear and get me to lean forward and lock in, but it never came. It’s even visually flat, never once diving into its noir aesthetic that could’ve at least given us something interesting to look at outside of Powell’s hulking shoulders and Qualley’s long legs. Again, I’m not complaining about either of those things, but that alone does not a movie make. “How To Make a Killing” is potential squandered, doing just enough to get by but not enough to really leave its mark.
It’s such a shame because I wanted to be over the moon for this one. You simply can’t put Powell and Qualley in a movie and not expect me to be seated at the earliest convenience. But once “How to Make a Killing” starts, I’m gonna need more than star power to STAY seated and unfortunately it didn’t quite get there.
“How to Make a Killing” was more disappointing than anything, making good on its promise of star power but not much else. There is fun to be had, just not enough.
Please put Qualley in a black and white neo-noir crime thriller. This is casting perfection and I need more of it immediately.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
