John Patton Ford’s sophomore feature rides the wave of its clever lead from first shot to last, cool and confident that everything will work out in his favor no matter how pitted the odds are against him. The writer-director behind Emily the Criminal introduces us to the ever-smirking Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) in a prison cell where he laments, with a smile, that he ordered vanilla ice cream despite being brought chocolate before embarking upon a feature-length voiceover that begins with the chronicling of how someone with such a stately name (and history) ended up in such an unfortunate situation.
How to Make a Killing’s swaggering leading man is technically in line to inherit the Redfellow family fortune—a storied mass of old money wealth the likes of which Jay Gatsby sits on or the Succession siblings are duking it out for—but his mother’s blue-collar romance severed her relationship with the family patriarch (Ed Harris, always drenched in the shadow of his old, giant, lightless wooden mansion parlors) before he was born. After his mother’s death at an early age, he confronts the family to be taken in, only to be handed a letter by a butler through a golden gate, Eyes Wide Shut-style, that upholds his mother’s (and consequently his) ousting. Left out in the cold—but, importantly, not out of the will—in the periphery of the family fortune, he grows up to sell suits to the kind of men he’s dying to be, or rather to be killing.
Ford’s witty crime caper employs a nonstop pace that grooves slyly along to Emile Mosseri’s quick, bass-heavy, snare-driven score, which hangs ever-present in the backing soundscape. It has, for better and worse, the feeling of a montage that never ends. For better: there’s rarely a lack of possibility. At any moment, the energetic pace-score combination gives the sense that something incredible, hilarious, or wholly unexpected might unfold. For worse: nothing ever does, leaving all potential floating in the wind and the constant expectation betrayed after 105 minutes of anticipation.
In no time at all, Becket—who’s long-accepted his fate with a patient grin—has turned a corner. His uncle, Warren Redfellow (Bill Camp), offers a lucrative position at the family firm, while his childhood friend / fling, the dastardly Julia Steinway (Margaret Qualley), re-enters his life with a curious motive, and his attention turns from existential satisfaction to a craving for revenge. Thus begins Becket’s journey to wipe out every cousin and kin that stands between him and the Redfellow family purse.
Killing‘s greatest strength is the unfurling family of Redfellow fuckboys that Becket must murder. Noah Redfellow (a terrific Zach Woods) is by far the funniest among them—a rich kid oozing the confidence and (un)earned successes of a titan modern artist who unironically refers to themselves as “White Basquiat” and contains no trace of artistry or self-awareness. Topher Grace’s turn as Steven Redfellow—a Joel Osteen-type prosperity gospel and mega church pastor who launders money and hangs out with El Chapo—is the next-best.
The rest are relatively forgettable, each one picked off by Becket in a silly, 1,000 Ways to Die-esque manner that formally aligns with Powell’s witty, nice-guy energy, which ends up being the film’s biggest problem. Powell couldn’t sell “angry man” in the recent Running Man flop, just like he can’t sell cool killer here. What works for him in a hot rom-com or hangout baseball movie beats him in a thriller or crime story. He sells the character’s ability to kill, much less without getting caught, like Hit Man’s Gary Johnson sells his hit men personas to the omniscient viewer who knows it’s not real. But here it’s supposed to be, and thus How to Make a Killing‘s clever, innocent tone suffocates the film’s (and Powell’s) ability to convince us of its plot. From what Becket conveys in tone of voice, there’s not a bad bone in either his or Ford’s body.
How to Make a Killing opens in theaters on Friday, February 20.
The post How to Make a Killing Review: Glen Powell Goes on a Witty Spree with Little Payoff first appeared on The Film Stage.
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