Review of All the Money in the World (2017) by Michael H — 03 Mar 2018

Christopher Plummer steps into the role once occupied by Kevin Spacey following his ignominious departure from the project, and gives a truly slimy, frequently detestable personification of J. Paul Getty, a man who proves that the more money you get, the more you seek.

I love Kevin Spacey as an actor and would have loved to see him play this part, but Plummer fills his shoes beautifully, demonstrating that, even at 80+, he can still deliver Oscar-calibre performances.

The story is a fascinating blend of cutthroat business negotiations and fractious family drama, with a kidnapped child whose life is in the hands of a business giant who fears for his own wealth more than the safety of his own flesh and blood.

The opening suffers from excessive time jumps and a brief narration that tries to throw out a few of the main points, but the majority of the film is solidly engrossing, never going into heavy detail about Getty's business, just his persona and ethics, his tenuous family bond and his obsessive frugality despite his enormous bank balance.

It's great to see Ridley Scott moving away from more pointless Alien films and take on more down-to-earth projects, and he brings the same grounded, logic-based entertainment to All The Money In The World as he did to The Martian.

Hopefully we see more films like this from him and the rest of the cast in the future.