EdHarris – Credits Rolling

Dustin “The Hammer” Boyd (Jake Johnson) used to have a promising tennis career until an accident got in the way. Now he works as a coach at the country club his father, Chuck Boyd (Ed Harris), owns and feels like he will never amount to anything ever again. After receiving medical advice by Dr. Stone (Ben Stiller) that pickleball will help loosen up his wrist, Dusty joins an amateur league. While he initially hates everything about the sport, he soon starts to open up to his fellow team members and finds something within himself that he thought had long ago disappeared.

I don’t know much about pickleball and I’m not that clued into tennis either. What I do know is that the two are usually pitted against each other, with most saying that tennis is the superior sport. But pickleball gained quite the following during the pandemic and now it is literally everywhere, so I wasn’t at all surprised when a film was announced that would revolve around it. While I do not think of myself as an expert, at least I know more about it than I did before.

The story itself was pretty generic. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a washed up athlete find passion in something unexpected and it probably won’t be the last. As a result, I found it to be a predictable watch. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes I like having something mindless that I can just tune out to. It was just a bit too stereotypical for me.

Where the film did excel was in its cast. Johnson is giving it his all and you can tell that he’s having a blast. Not all of the jokes landed, but he kept trying and I’ll admit I did laugh quite a bit. The group of women Dusty befriends while playing pickleball were fun. Mary Steenburgen was delightful as Candace, a divorced woman who is trying to get her groove back. Cleo King and Lynne Marie Stewart were hilarious as Gail and Judy. The three of them worked effortlessly off of Johnson and I really enjoyed their scenes together. Chloe Fineman had a short but sweet role as Dusty’s ex girlfriend Marisa and I enjoyed the cameos by actual tennis champions Andy Roddick and John McEnroe.

Apple TV+ is known for putting out top notch quality projects. I’m a bit surprised as to why they decided to take on The Dink because it was just mediocre. If it wasn’t for the cast, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to check it out. It was fine for a one time watch, but it was ultimately forgettable.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

Loosely based on the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets, How To Make A Killing follows Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) who, at birth, was disowned by his extremely wealthy family. But an average run of the mill life isn’t good enough for Becket anymore. He takes matters into his own hands and decides he’ll do whatever it takes to reclaim what is rightfully his.

I think it’s pretty clear by now that I will watch anything that Glen Powell is in. As soon as I heard about this film, I knew I needed to see it. I love a good dark comedy after all. While it doesn’t offer anything new to the genre, it was undoubtedly still a fun time at the cinema.

Powell is great as our protagonist. He’s just got this effortless charm to him that he’s able to inject into each of his roles. This character fitted him well. Wanting pay back for those who have wronged him had the audience rooting for him from the beginning. Another stand out in the cast was Margaret Qualley who portrays Becket’s childhood friend and crush Julia. When Julia bursts back into Becket’s life, everything changes. On paper, it may seem like Julia is the complete opposite of Becket, but what they have in common more than anything else is that they refuse to give up on what they want. It’s obvious that Qualley is having a blast in this role as she is absolutely diabolical. Jessica Henwick also shined as Becket’s fiancee Ruth. She is quite possibly the only normal part of Becket’s life though I love how she was a strong and individual character in her own right.

While there are an array of other characters the audience do not really get a chance of getting to know them well. Becket needs to go through seven family members before claiming his inheritance, but we only get to know a few select players. Zach Woods starred as Noah, one of the cousins. We get to know him the most – an artist who Becket cozies up to, he also gets close to Noah’s girlfriend Ruth. There was a somewhat memorable sequence with Topher Grace’s pastor Steven as well as the inevitable showdown between Becket and his grandfather Whitelaw portrayed by Ed Harris. We barely had any time with the others and that was a pity.

The film was a bit more on the predictable side. There were a couple of twists here and there, but for the most part it was pretty much what you see is what you get. I feel like had they gone just that extra step further it would have elevated to a whole new level. Giving more of a voice to the side characters, ramping up the kills and really leaning into the camp that I know is there would have helped tremendously.

Overall How To Make A Killing is a solid popcorn flick. It’s got a fabulous cast, an intriguing storyline and it’s old school vibes. There have been plenty of eat the rich films in recent years and while this one depicts that to a tee, it left me yearning for something more.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️