How to Make a Killing

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In my way, over time, I have grown to enjoy Glen Powell's work as of late. He was probably the most entertaining part of 'Twisters.' I loved him as Ben Richards in 'The Running Man,' and if I'm being honest, his role here is really no exception. He continues to convey the particular charm his characters tend to have and leans into his sense of humour a little more. However, the film itself, although I may not call it terrible, as most other reviews seem to suggest, leaves something to be desired after it all wraps up.

To be perfectly fair, this does come from a relatively fresh writer-director, John Patton Ford, whose only other big credit is the Aubrey Plaza film 'Emily the Criminal,' which has been well reviewed. Thus, I feel like it could be said that Patton is still figuring out what works for him and what doesn't. With that in mind, I'm probably not gonna be too harsh on this film, though my first thought was that if this story were drawn out into a miniseries, it probably could have been more entertaining than this relatively short film turned out to be.

As the film opens, we hear the sounds of jail cells opening and closing, and we may wonder if we've just started into 'The Goonies,' as it sounds almost exactly the same. Here, we meet Becket Redfellow (Powell), who has been put on death row for murder. When Father Morris (Adrian Lukis) pays him a visit to listen to his final confession, Becket, instead, tells him the full, true story of how he ended up there. He begins with his mother, Mary (Nell Williams), pregnant with him, refusing to follow through with her Dad's (Ed Harris) wishes to go through with an abortion, and thus getting cut off from the wealthy Redfellow family.

Becket is raised alone by Mary and still manages to rub elbows with the more prosperous, eventually meeting the horribly manipulative Julia Steinway (Maggie Toomey), who becomes a recurring character throughout the film. Back to the central plot, however, Mary eventually gets sick and passes away while Becket is still young, prompting him to promise to have the "life he deserves to have." That could mean a variety of things, but over time, Becket comes to see it as inheriting the Redfellow family fortune, which he's still technically entitled to should the remaining family members pass before he does.

As Becket's story unfolds, and he seeks out his various family members to bump off, circumstances lead him to a somewhat awkward love interest named Ruth (Jessica Henwick), who's tied to the Redfellow family already, while Julia (now Margaret Qualley) keeps coming in and out of his life, getting more and more irritating with every return. Her gold-digging ways are just a little too obvious, and she's almost too easy to hate. Usually, I'd mark that as the portrayal of a good villain, but there's something extra "irksome" about this character - you don't like her from the moment she walks on screen, she's that transparent.

The rest of the film may be pretty much what anyone might expect, as Becket comically but somehow strategically goes through the systematic killing of each of his family members while trying to duck and dodge authorities. While it's fun, the whole thing ends up pretty questionable at best. It's a little hard to wrap one's head around the sympathy angle they go for here with Becket, as he's very plainly guilty of his crimes, even if he did just do away with a bunch of rich snobs. I suppose he's meant to be a sort of folk hero. For me, the message was a touch unclear.

I think what I disliked most about the film, however, was the ending. I won't spoil it here, but let's just say things don't go the way you want. With the ending and certain characters in mind when it comes to the bad, there's still a fair amount of decent here in the film's sense of humour, certain other characters, and of course, Glen Powell's comical performance, which isn't mind-blowing, but probably provides the most charm of the film. Otherwise, this might have worked better as a series on the small screen, with better advertising and a much more thought-out ending.

2/5

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