All The Money In The World - movie review

All The Money In The World

Plot: The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.
Cast: Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg
Director: Ridley Scott
Certificate: 15 (strong violence, injury detail, threat, language)
Runtime: 2hrs 12 mins
Release Date: Friday 5th January 2018

November 8th. Headlines took the entertainment journalistic world by storm as it was announced that Kevin Spacey had been fired from Ridley Scott's All The Money In The World in the role of J. Paul Getty after allegations of sexual assault hit. And then, without even a second to waste, Scott announced that Christopher Plummer was coming in to replace Spacey and that they would film all that was needed to still reach their intended release date. Astonishingly, they did and to great success. Amid all of the controversy regarding its production, All The Money In The World is a return to form for Scott delivering some superb performances from the capable hands of Michelle Williams and the man of the moment, Christopher Plummer.

He's saying 'Moo'. You will never be able to unseen this.

What Ridley Scott and Christopher Plummer have been able to achieve within the space of a month to shoot key portions of the film, edit it normally and then edit those scenes into the already filmed production from before, is nothing short of a miracle. I might just buy the Blu-Ray to see the bonus features. As for Plummer, he has slid into the role of Getty seamlessly. There will always be a side of me that is intrigued to see what the Kevin Spacey interpretation had to offer but I am full support of removing him completely and replacing him with the tremendous talents of Plummer. Surprisingly, Plummer's dedication to the role makes it appear as if he had been preparing to play Getty for years (despite him being Scott's first choice for the role over Spacey) so to imagine that he was given only a few weeks to get into character, Plummer should receive accolades for that alone however the performance he gives is blinding. Due to not needing the questionable makeup that Spacey required, Plummer feels very natural in the role and manages to balance the character to the point where he is committing heinous acts and saying disgusting things yet halts himself from becoming a cartoon evil businessman. Originally, I thought I'd find myself continually questioning whether Plummer was a good enough substitute and if certain scenes were noticeable that Spacey had been omitted. However, aside from one desert encounter, Plummer's inclusion is hardly negatively noticeable as he fits into proceedings without a bump to be found. 

When you know you're going to get nominated for an Oscar for only a month's work when the role wasn't even yours in the first place.

Plummer is sure to receive critical acclaim and possibly be in contention for awards however it's Michelle Williams who impressed me the most. Not only did she have to return to a character and pick up on her nuances that she left months ago due to the extensive reshoots with Plummer, but Williams commands the screen with every scene she appears in. Williams plays Gail Harris, the mother of kidnapped John Paul Getty III, who is stuck in the middle of hostage negotiations as she tries to persuade J. Paul Getty (Plummer) to pay the ransom for his grandson whilst also convincing one of the kidnappers (who has more of a heart and conscience than others) to let her son go. It's a complex role that Williams makes seem effortless. The role demands a constant, never-ending heightened state of emotion and she will flick from devastation in one scene and then a fit of pure rage in another. So far, having not seen some key players in the Best Actress game, Michelle Williams is leading the pack for me. The other surprise star of this film is Ridley Scott. Without knowing so going in, I wouldn't have known Ridley Scott had directed this film. Very little of his directorial tendencies appear and instead, focuses on telling the story to inform and engage the audience. He is able to brilliantly ramp up the tension and draw it out for maximum effect but also shoots a beautiful movie. All The Money In The World has some stunning cinematography and that's not something I thought I'd find myself saying upon leaving. Scott captures Rome with such a visual affinity that I almost want to go there if it weren't for the threat of being kidnapped. Personally, Ridley Scott should focus his attention of making films of this calibre rather than stretching out and potentially ruining franchises he created in the past. Move on, Ridley. Move on.

THIS is why I don't trust Uber.

FACT: After Kevin Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer, director Ridley Scott decided not to show Plummer any footage of Spacey in character, or even tell him how Spacey played the scenes. When finished, Scott found both performances to be quite different and equally effective in their own particular styles.

Notice how there is one star that I kept out of my showering praises and that is Marky Mark himself, Mark Wahlberg. Not only did he bewilderingly receive $1.5 million dollars for the reshoots whilst Michelle Williams was paid under a measly $1000, but he isn't all that good. Wahlberg plays special agent, Fletcher Chase, who is employed by Getty to help find his grandson and keep the mother at bay. Unfortunately for Wahlberg, he can't quite match the levels of acting on display from his co-stars so much so that halfway through the film he resorts to the old tactic of inexplicably wearing glasses in serious scenes so he can do some 'proper acting'. I don't overly like saying that an actor is miscast in a film because the director clearly saw something in him or her to award them the role but when it comes to Mark Wahlberg in All The Money In The World, he's miscast and I think Scott only cast him to add another big name to the production. The character of Fletcher Chase has been heavily altered for the purpose of the film and it's quite apparent. Apart from tagging along with Gail to Rome in the hope of finding her son, there isn't much else Wahlberg's character does for the film. He follows Gail like a lost puppy, driving her from place to place whilst she gets her hands dirty and puts some elbow grease into the mission. Ultimately, his character could have just been a faceless and nameless security personnel and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. All The Money In The World also suffers from a choppy beginning. Clearly, Scott had intended to show us the kidnapping first and then give us some background on the Getty family, which is perfectly admirable, yet the editing and treatment of the flashbacks are very sporadic leading to the point where I was slightly uninterested and unimpressed for the opening twenty minutes. However, that feeling soon flies the coup as the story kicks into gear. I was also fond of the continual commentary on the frivolity of money over a human life but it did get a little too on-the-nose when nearly each and every character refers to Getty as having "All The Money In The World". C'mon movie. You're better than that.

Kevin Spacey has been spotted sneaking onto the set...

All The Money In The World isn't extravagantly special nor anything totally memorable however, it'd be a lie to say that for a vast majority of the two and a bit hour runtime, I was enthralled, invested and compelled. Ridley Scott does a great job in detailing the story in a factual and entertaining manner and Michelle Williams gives one of her best performances. However, the thing that this film will be remember for is how, within a month, a significant amount of this movie was re-shot, re-edited and put back together again to hit its target release date and the end result shows nothing of the rushed sort. Plummer and Scott have really pulled it out of the bag with this one.

My Verdict: 7.5/10

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