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01/10/2018 11:01 PMRated R
One of the best things to happen for the film All the Money in the World is that Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey as the infamous Jean Paul Getty when sexual assault charges surfaced about Spacey. In this film inspired by true events, Plummer (Beginners, Remember), nominated for a Golden Globe, is chilling and acerbic as the billionaire industrialist who refused to pay his grandson’s ransom when the 16-year-old was kidnapped in July 1973. In the crime thriller, Getty says that his family is a “force of gravity so strong it can bend the light,” but won’t use his self-proclaimed omnipotence to save John Paul III. Instead he pays millions for his art objects. Plummer creates a Getty who is very cruelly detached, yet also lost within his distorted ideas of his bloodline.
Played by Charlie Plummer (The Dinner, Lean on Pete, and who is of no relation to Christopher), John Paul Getty III is abducted by a mafia-like Italian group from Calabria. The captors threaten to cut off body parts if they aren’t paid $17 million, and eventually cut off his ear in a gruesome scene. The young Plummer spends time on screen, but his character seems underdeveloped, even during his narration about his family. He remains a quiet presence, except during his torture, and the trauma’s impact on him is all but erased.
The soul of the film, John’s mother and Getty’s daughter-in-law, Abigail (Gail) Harris, is played by a somewhat annoying Michelle Williams (The Greatest Showman, Manchester by the Sea), in spite of her Golden Globe nomination. Otherwise she’s a fine actress, but her choice to use a low-register, scratchy voice that might mimic the real Gail, seems forced and distracting. Williams ardently pursues her part, and her anguish plays real, but this reviewer can’t get away from her acting, rather than being immersed in her character.
Mark Wahlberg, as ex-CIA agent Fletcher Chase, plays a sidekick part. Originally hired by Getty, Sr. to monitor Gail’s efforts, Chase later shifts to her side. Wahlberg is restrained in comparison to his usual roles in films such as The Fighter and Ted, and leaves the focus to others.
Other actors tag along, playing their parts well. Roman Duris, a French actor (Heartbreaker, Mood Indigo), expertly takes center stage occasionally as Cinquanta, a kidnapper who connects with John and flounders in his moral compass. Timothy Hutton (TV’s Leverage and American Crime) is barely visible as one of Getty’s business men, Oswald Hinge, and could handle a meatier role.
Director Ridley Scott, also nominated for a Golden Globe and known for multiple achievements, such as Thelma and Louise, The Martian, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, doesn’t disappoint here. The film bounces back and forth in time to present Getty’s back stories, but the flow isn’t interrupted while Scott makes it obvious that all the money in the world can’t buy love, loyalty, or integrity. The Getty estate’s massive coldness is reminiscent of Citizen Kane, but isn’t as surreal. Overstocked with paintings and sculptures, the mansion always makes one confront Getty’s preference for things over people.
Plummer doesn’t overplay Getty’s difficult death, which could have lapsed into melodrama, and the actor doesn’t permit him a reprieve. Instead, the viewer feels his tragedy for him. Whether true to the facts or not, Plummer succeeds in portraying a complex person who, at great cost to his family, doesn’t loosen his grip on his views, his world, and especially his all-too-precious money.