I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about the return of the king in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” the dark comedy “How to Make a Killing,” the heist film “Crime 1201” and the inspirational “I Can Only Imagine 2.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the return of the king in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” the heist film “Crime 101,” the dark comedy “How to Make a Killing” and the horror movie “Diabolic.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to sing “Hm, ooh, yeah-yeah, yeah” Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the return of the king in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” the dark comedy “How to Make a Killing” and the horror movie “Diabolic.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “How to Make a Killing,” a new class satire now playing in theatres, a man whose mother was disowned by his wealthy family decides to “prune a few branches of the family tree” and reclaim the family fortune. “Since the day I was born my mother told me we were different. Yes, she had been disowned by her family but someday I would become the sole heir. I just had to wait… for all of them to die.”
CAST: Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Bill Camp, Zach Woods, Topher Grace, Ed Harris. Directed by John Patton Ford.
REVIEW: A riff on the coal black 1949 British comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “How to Make a Killing” is a lighthearted look at revenge and murder.
The thin line between life and death is all that stands between 9-to-5er Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) and a windfall inheritance. When he was born out of wedlock, his mother was disowned by her obscenely wealthy family. Broke, and wanting to live the “right kind of life” promised by his late mother, he hatches a plan to stage “accidents” to knock off the family members standing between him and the cash. “There were seven of them,” he says. “Seven rich pricks between myself and $28 billion.”
Told mostly in flashback with narration, “How to Make a Killing” is tightly composed. Perhaps too tightly. Swiftly paced, it rips along at top speed, never pausing long enough to allow the impact of the killings to sink in. In keeping with the movie’s pedal to the metal pace, Becket’s fall into murder and mayhem happens in the blink of an eye. As the bodies quickly pile up, the murders feel a little easy, a little too no-muss-no-fuss, to build any palpable tension.
The movie wants the audience to relate to Becket’s tough luck, but his overall demeanor is so stoic it’s hard to root for him, even as an anti-hero. Powell’s megawatt grin conceals Becket’s psychopathy, but the character is too glib to be funny, too offhand to be dramatic.
It’s in that mushy middle that Becket and the film sit. Not funny enough to be a comedy, it’s not quite dark enough to be a full-on drama.
It does comes loaded with ideas about class mobility, moral ambiguity and plays up the lengths Becket will go to gain social status, but the rapid pacing doesn’t provide time for meaningful exploration.
Some of that exploration may have disappeared in the movie’s plot holes. Large enough for Powell to fly the Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet he piloted in “Top Gun: Maverick” through, they are black holes that suck logic (particularly surrounding the final killing) into the void.
If you buy a ticket, check your suspension of disbelief at the concession stand.
“How to Make a Killing” has an intriguing premise, some fun performances—mainly Jessica Henwick as Ruth, Becket’s grounded girlfriend, the ever-reliable Bill Camp as a mentor figure and Zach Woods as the irritating cousin Noah—but its ambition, like its main character’s, exceeds its grip.
