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How to Make a Killing (in theaters)
This is what happens when you turn a murder farce into a drama.
Whether this is a good thing depends on why you liked the farce in the first place. If you like the cleverness, then “How to Make a Killing” has plenty to enjoy. A loose adaptation of the same story that gave us 1949’s “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” it’s got more complicated murders than the original along with fresh but equally surprising plot twists. The ending springs a trap that’s been set in the movie’s opening minutes, one you won’t expect but in retrospect seems obvious.
If you enjoy narrative satisfaction, however, then go back to “Coronets.” This movie brings emotion into the story, making the protagonist genuinely fall in love with a woman and trying vaguely to give him an emotional reason for the killings. This turns out to be pointless, since none of this emotion leads anywhere or succeeds in doing anything but making the ending sad.
It also unbalances the movie, since they do a much better job on the love than the meaningful reason for the killing. At some point it makes no sense that he keeps killing them, a fact obvious enough that even the protagonist remarks on this. It kills the movie’s narrative drive, along with any thematic weight the ending hoped to have.
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If you cut out a movie’s whimsy, you’ve got to replace it with something. No matter how cleverly it tries to move, “How to Make a Killing” never quite manages it.
Grade: Two stars
Crime 101 (in theaters)
It’s not a perfect heist, but it’s still an entertaining one.
“Crime 101” is yet another in a long line of movies who dream of becoming Michael Mann’s “Heat” when it grows up, but it means well. Nothing here will surprise you, but it’s well-made enough to keep your attention. There are even flashes of something deeper, though stumbles of various sorts means those ambitions never quite gel. Still, those flashes do shine, and when you put them in a package that satisfies all the tropes as well as this one does it’s hard not to let your attention get stolen away.
The plot follows Mike, one of those careful jewel thieves who try to avoid violence and never leave evidence behind. A single detective is convinced he’s behind a whole string of heists, even though the police have supposedly closed the cases. Adding to the chaos is a new thief on the scene, just as reckless as Mike is careful.
The acting is something of a mixed bag, but there are definitely prizes in here. Halle Berry is excellent as Sharon, a businesswoman pushed into a corner, while Mark Ruffalo is profoundly watchable as the detective. Chris Hemsworth is unexpectedly nuanced as Mike, but the structure of the movie means you don’t appreciate it until it’s almost too late. Barry Keoghan is the surprising weak spot, phoning in his usual chaotic energy.
Still, the movie moves deftly enough that it mostly slides over any bumps. It even gets away clean at the end, which is all you can ask out of any thief.
Grade: Three stars
Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society and the Utah Film Critics Association. Drop her a line at themovieguruslc@gmail.com.