How To Make A Killing (15)

Becket Redfellow is disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, spearheaded by grandfather Whitelaw. The patriarch refuses to allow Becket's mother Mary to raise a child conceived out of wedlock under his roof. A day of reckoning arrives when Becket, now a 30-something tailor's assistant, is unexpectedly reunited with former childhood crush Julia Steinway. She jokes about him killing off his relatives to claim his inheritance and he starts pruning branches of the family tree.

LondonNet Film Review

How To Make A Killing (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Glen Powell trades the money-driven barbarity of The Running Man for accidental anarchy in an exceedingly loose remake of Kind Hearts And Coronets, which jettisons the gimmick that made the 1949 film such a whoop-inducing blast: namely, Sir Alec Guinness playing all eight members of an aristocratic family marked for death. Writer-director John Patton Ford’s contemporary revamp could do with that kind of unabashed, show-stopping theatrics to enliven a plodding script that gives the aggrieved lead character everything he needs to be happy – a loving partner, luxury apartment, well-paid job, caring boss – but still compels him to slide a noose tightly around his own neck…

Becket Redfellow (Grady Wilson) is disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, spearheaded by grandfather Whitelaw (Ed Harris). The patriarch refuses to allow Becket’s mother Mary (Nell Williams) to raise a child conceived out of wedlock under his roof so she rejects the privilege of Redfellow mansion and moves to New Jersey, providing for her boy as a working single mother. On her deathbed, Mary whispers to Becket, “Promise me you won’t quit until you have the right kind of life… the kind of life I raised you to have.” As an orphan, the grieving boy reaches out to his biological family and is rejected again, sowing seeds of rage that just need a little watering.

The day of propagation comes when Becket, now a 30-something tailor’s assistant (Powell), is unexpectedly reunited with former childhood crush Julia Steinway (Margaret Qualley). She is married and remains out of reach since he is only eighth in line to inherit the Redfellow fortune behind various cousins and kin. “Call me when you’ve killed them all,” she jokes. Becket does just that, initially targeting obnoxious stockbroker cousin Taylor (Raff Law) before he starts pruning other branches of the family tree including paranoid pastor Steven (Topher Grace). As the body count rises, Becket acquires a doting girlfriend Ruth (Jessica Henwick) and becomes a person of interest to investigating FBI agents Matthews (Stevel Marc) and Pinfield (Phumi Tau).

How To Make A Killing lacks the acerbic wit and pizzazz of its 1940s inspiration, heavy-handedly introducing a modicum of suspense by having Qualley’s materialistic vamp forcefully insert herself into the plot. Screen chemistry with Powell’s serial killer is lukewarm and their lack of heat is felt acutely in the film’s belaboured final stretch when shotgun bullets start flying.

Harris, Law, Grace and co-stars, who embody the doomed Redfellow bloodline, have limited screen time to make an impact and only one member of the clan, based on what we see, comes close to warranting an unfortunate demise. Powell’s natural charm, which overflows in his other films, barely trickles.

– Jo Planter