Two of Hollywood’s most popular actors right now, Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley, just had a new movie hit theatres Friday, February 20. “How to Make a Killing” directed by John Patton Ford, holds a Rotten Tomato score of 51% signaling mixed reviews. So, did they really make a killing?
Becket Redfellow, a young man in his 20s, is navigating life while also waiting for the day his $28 billion inheritance comes. His mother was disowned by her obscenely wealthy family while pregnant with Becket, causing there to be no relationship between the family and him. Becket’s idea of happiness is being filthy rich, and he no longer wants to wait until all seven of his relatives pass to become the oldest surviving descendant. In this dark comedy, Becket reaches many roadblocks in his journey to murdering his way to the top, facing conflicts every which way. He must figure out how to successfully make a killing.
This movie had my theatre fully packed with all age ranges, despite it being rated R. Walking into the theatre I was expecting Glen Powell’s character to give off similar vibes as Patrick Bateman from “American Psycho,” but I was far off. There were multiple kids in my theatre. The language used is graphic but there is no gore. I thought in a satirical film like this, gore would be incorporated into the style, so I was a bit shocked.
Also, it felt as if Becket was trying to push the humor too much at certain points, trying to break the suspense in scenes. I also have hardly anything to say about Margaret Qualley’s character. She plays Becket’s young love who keeps showing back up into his life, but her character overall feels unnecessary. The first six times she pops back up is pointless and boring.
Despite these flaws, each one of the Redfellow’s characters were executed nicely. From a super church pastor to a bratty frat boy each Redfellow is comically unique with its hilarious quircks. My personal favorite of the Redfellow’s is Zach Woods character, Noah Redfellow. He plays a pretentious artist but the way he plays it is like the character was made for him. Each Redfellow is casted perfectly and gives us so much personality.
The storyline itself is interesting enough for the movie to be entertaining the whole time. There are just flaws and not enough given to us. I wish they would have taken it one step further in the intensity of the film. I saw many people online saying they also walked in expecting Patrick Bateman vibes since Powell was giving clean, sly, businessman with a killing hobby on the side, so they were easily let down. I did not necessarily feel let down since the movie was entertaining, I just felt like it was missing something the whole time that I could not pinpoint.
