How to Make a Killing (dir. John Patton Ford)

By: Adam Freed

Let’s face it, the good guys don’t always win.  In the case of John Patton Ford’s intriguing How to Make a Killing, a tale of generational inheritance and murder, there are no good guys. This is a shocking statement considering the film stars Glen Powell (The Running Man, Hit Man) one of the most recognizable and endearing screen presences to come along in quite some time.  Powell is the rare star that maintains a classic handsomeness without sacrificing any of his unique approachability.  In most roles, that alchemy is a gift, for Powell’s portrayal of Beckett Redfellow, it presents quite the conundrum.

Beckett was born into the right family, but under the wrong circumstances.  After his billionaire grandfather Whitelaw Redfellow disowns Beckett’s mother for becoming pregnant at the age of 18, Beckett and his mother are relegated to a working-class existence in Newark, New Jersey.  This fact presents one of the most glaring plot contrivances present in How to Make a Killing.  As it turns out, even though Beckett and his mother receive no financial support from their wealthy family,  for some reason, she remains in the family's trust.  This convenient fact paves the way for the film’s entertaining but somewhat contrived storyline in which the handsome but downtrodden Beckett attempts to exact his revenge by killing his way to the top of the family tree that cast him aside decades earlier.

Complicating matters in the slick and sultry John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal) film is that Redfellow’s rise to billionaire status is met by a pair of two very different women.  The first is a soulful high school English teacher named Ruth (Jessica Henwick) who unquestionably represents the path down which Beckett should travel.  The second young woman in Redfellow’s life, Julia, a childhood friend, is far more akin to a femme fatale.  Julia is played to deceitful perfection by Margaret Qualley (The Substance, Blue Moon).  Just as Redfellow slithers his way closer to his inheritance, the money-hungry Julia coils within striking distance of him.  With nary a moral to share between them, Julia and Beckett cascade inevitably toward one another, marking what are easily the most intriguing moments within Ford’s film.  Every scene shared between Qualley and Powell represent the unquestioned apex moments in the pitch black comedy.

Audiences searching for a morality tale, have very clearly come to the wrong place. How to Make a Killing makes it abundantly clear that it intends to offer no moral high ground on which to stand.  Instead, John Patton Ford’s dark comedy offers plenty of devilish fun in witnessing its slimy plot unfold, even as Beckett Redfellow blows past a half dozen red flags along the way.  The shame of the film is that despite all of the devilish fun and its excellent cast of characters, Beckett’s pursuit of the Redfellow billions leaves the audience feeling ultimately soulless. Then again, maybe that’s the point.

Target Score 6.5/10 - How to Make a Killing is a fascinating experiment in testing the limits of how dark traditionally lovable screen personalities, Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley can go.  John Ford Powell’s film is proof positive that being bad can still be quite a bit of fun.