Robert Hamer’s Kind Hearts and Coronets, from 1949, is one of the all time classics of British cinema. The track record of American remakes of Ealing Comedies is not exactly great as evidenced by the Coen brothers woeful version of The Ladykillers. This is a much looser adaptation and stars Glen Powell as Becket Redfellow who was disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family. He resolves to reclaim his inheritance, eliminating the relatives who stand in his way.
Powell continues to get starring vehicles even though his box office record is spotty. I am happy with that as I think he is the nearest we currently have to an old fashioned movie star, and John Patton Ford’s comedy is often kept afloat by his charisma alone. The early stages of Beckett’s killing spree is quite entertaining as he dispatches his younger relatives. They are all hateful human beings so it is easy to go along with his crimes, and the deaths are nicely inventive and varied. But, as a priest who Beckett confesses to points out, it gets to a point when he has secured a good job and a lovely fiancée, Ruth (Jessica Henwick), so it is harder to sympathise with him.
Perhaps because of that, I found my interest waning a little as the story loses its momentum in the second half. Margaret Qualley, who plays Beckett’s childhood love who comes back into his life with calamitous consequences does not convince in her part though Powell’s presence and Henwick’s likability kept it afloat.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10