All The Money In The World

In late October 2017 allegations started to fly thick and fast about Kevin Spacey and his predatory behaviour around young men. It was the latest in the line of celebratory scandals that had exploded with the Harvey Weinstein stories. Director Ridley Scott had just finished his new film All The Money In The World which starred Spacey and he found himself in a bit of a pickle. The film was due out in two months and the negative press would kill his film. So he made an executive decision and decided to remove Spacey from the film entirely and replace him with veteran actor Christopher Plummer. This involved reshoots and CGI and editing trickery that reportedly cost 7.5 million dollars, which all had to be done in 8 weeks. Sounds like an utter disaster right? 

Wrong. The film against the odds turned out fine and Plummer is the best thing in it. He gives a fantastic performance as J.Paul Getty, an oil baron, the richest man in the world, a miser, and an absolute fucking prick.

In 1973, 16 year old J.Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Rome by a gang of Calabrese criminals who wanted $17 million from his Grand-dad for his release. But his notoriously tight fisted Grand-dad was having none of it and refused. It was then up to J.P.'s mother Gail and Getty negotiator Fletcher Chase to deal with the kidnappers themselves. And kidnappers aren't exactly known for their patience or kindness.

I liked this film. It's middle third is a bit dull and overlong but riveting opening and closing sections turn it into a compelling watch. It's based on a true story and as well being a fine thriller it's also a damning indictment of what can go wrong with a person when money is your be all and end all. Plummer as mentioned earlier is brilliant. He plays Getty as a soulless monster. A man with no regard for human life. Or money really. He likes things and likes to invest in things that will make him money. He doesn't like to lose, doesn't like to leave anything on the table. Yet as much as you'll dislike him Plummer somehow gives him an edge that saves him from being offputting. There's always a glimmer in his eye like he's laughing inside. It's a great performance considering he can't have had much time to prepare. To be honest, if you didn't know about the Spacey stuff you'd never realise he was just slotted in. If you did you might notice a bit of iffy CGI used to pop him into a desert set scene or the fact that he's alone in a lot of his shots but Plummer is so good that you just won't care.

It's evocation of 1970's Rome is pretty great too. Some of the music choices will make you roll your eyes but little details make the whole thing seem authentic. The cars in the background, the soul handshakes, the Italian poster for High Plains Drifter on a wall. Little things that catch your eye and ground the story.

Michelle Willams as Gail Harris is great as always even with her accent that seems to be channeling Jackie Kennedy. Her role is less showy than Plummer's but she's easily as good as him. One wordless scene of her sadly looking at her husband as he meets his father is a killer. She's a tightly wound ball of tension throughout the film and I hope her performance ain't overlooked. She's a brilliant actress and it's great to see her stretching her legs. Two of her big films last year really underused her and it was a shame. Charlie Plummer ( no relation to Christopher) as young Paul is good even though he doesn't get to do more than look scared and hungry. He starts off slappable but by the end you'll be knawing your knuckles for him. Mark Wahlberg as Fletcher Chase is Wahlberg on autopilot. He can be great but he's just going through the motions here. You can't help but feel another actor would have sunk his teeth into the part a bit more.

One thing Hollywood always does with these true life stories is add embellishment and it's annoying when you have a story like this full of tension and horror and still film makers feel the need to add to them. One fictional scene added near the end was done for dramatic effect but it just feels silly. Even in an made up story it would seem overwrought and it takes from the story unnecessarily.

Silly additions aside director Ridley Scott pulled off a minor miracle here. We all fully expected a disaster but its a tribute to the 80 year old director's skill, experience and work ethic that the film turned out so well. It's a film that's well worth a watch.

Scumbag actors should take note. They can and well be replaced. This is a great precedent.