'How to Make a Killing' review: Riffing on a black comedy classic

“How to Make a Killing” stars Glen Powell as a working-class man who sets out to murderously reclaim his inheritance. The film has a clear inspiration in the great Ealing black comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets.” But the deft tonal balance of “Kind Hearts and Coronets” is missing in “How to Make a Killing.

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It's her best eventBruce Springsteen and E Street Band to launch 'Land of Hope and Dreams' US tour next monthTrump family business files for trademark rights on any airports using the president's nameRaccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia liquor store and passes out on bathroom floorChicken wings advertised as 'boneless' can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decidesHow the rich pass on their wealth. And how you can tooHow this AP photographer captured Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's iconic kissVonn, Shiffrin and Brignone among the Olympic skiers voicing concern over receding glaciersColorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forAs some people push to make profound autism its own diagnosis, this family is raising twins with itMark Zuckerberg set to testify in watershed social media trialA look at Ramadan and how Muslims observe the holy monthAnderson Cooper anuncia su salida de"60 Minutes"; permanecerá en CNNThis image released by A24 shows Glen Powell in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Margaret Qualley in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Zach Woods in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Jessica Henwick in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Bill Camp in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Glen Powell in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Glen Powell in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Margaret Qualley in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Margaret Qualley in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Zach Woods in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Zach Woods in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Jessica Henwick in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Jessica Henwick in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Bill Camp in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” This image released by A24 shows Bill Camp in a scene from “How to Make a Killing.” as a working-class man who sets out to murderously reclaim his inheritance, has a clear inspiration: the great Ealing black comedyIn that sublimely wicked 1949 film, Alec Guinness played all eight of the relatives that Dennis Price’s would-be heir tries to bump off, making the film among the most delightful showcases of Sir Alec’s range. Powell, as it happens, has already played a shape-shifter in an assassination comedy,But the deft tonal balance of “Hit Man,” let alone of “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” is missing in “How to Make a Killing,” a disappointingly flat almost-remake that has neither the biting farce nor the chilling darkness to match its black comedy ambitions. In the film, written and directed by John Patton Ford, Powell doesn’t opt for Guinness’ chameleonic path. He plays a version of the Price character: Becket Redfellow, an outcast from an uber-wealthy family. After becoming pregnant at 18, Becket’s mother is exiled by her father, Whitelaw Redfellow . The most compelling thing about “How to Make a Killing” may be that, after an early flashback with Whitelaw, we know Becket will eventually face off with the Redfellow patriarch. There are worse ways to keep an audience around than to tacitly promise more Ed Harris. Becket is, himself, the narrator of his tale. He’s telling it to a priest from a jail cell, four hours before his execution. But Becket is not remorseful for his misdeeds nor particularly anxious about his impending sentence. Disappointed by his last-meal cheesecake, he smirks, “Kill me now.” If “How to Make a Killing” carried this tone — Powell’s signature glibness, with an edge — the movie might have worked better. Instead, Becket is a curiously uninteresting protagonist whose descent into serial killing happens wanly. After losing his job as a clerk to make way for the shop owner’s son, Becket resolves to track down the cousins that stand to inherit the vast family fortune. He’s motivated by advice from his mother — not to rest until he’s got “the right kind of life” — and by a chance encounter with his childhood crush who jocularly tells him to call her when he’s killed three or four. The subsequent encounters give a window into the ultra-rich. Topher Grace plays a cousin, Bill Camp an uncle and Raff Law, son of Jude, another cousin. “How to Make a Killing” has a handful of Hollywood nepo babies , but going further might have added a meta twist. The lone standout of a forgettable bunch is Noah Redfellow , a painter who touts himself as “White Basquiat.” But the cast member that most gives “How to Make a Killing” a lift is Jessica Henwick, who stood out even in a peripheral role inShe plays Becket’s down-to-earth girlfriend, whose warm presence increasingly makes you doubt Becket’s already faint motivation for murder. Ford previously wrote and directed the excellent 2022 thriller “Emily the Criminal,” with Aubrey Plaza. That film, about a debt-ridden Los Angeles gig worker drawn into a criminal underbelly, showed Ford has the ability to connect contemporary class themes with gritty genre narratives. The more polished “How to Make a Killing,” though, never connects those dots. It also doesn’t help that the last few months have already given us a sensational satire about killing to get ahead:starring Lee Byung-hun as a newly unemployed family man who aims to eliminate his competition for a new job. Unfortunately for “How to Make a Killing,” it would have to bump off quite a few movies to move up the black-comedy ranks. “How to Make a Killing,” an A24 release, opens in theaters Friday. It’s rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language and some violence/bloody images. Running time: 105 minutes. Two stars out of four.Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City.

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Comedy Ed Harris Aubrey Plaza Margaret Qualley Movies Film Reviews Send To Apple News Zach Woods Dennis Price Topher Grace Arts And Entertainment Richard Linklater John Patton Ford Lee Byung-Hun Bill Camp Jessica Henwick Noah Redfellow Andie Macdowell Alec Guinness Jake Coyle Entertainment

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