Review of All the Money in the World (2017) by Alan W — 10 Jan 2018

Ridley Scott shows no signs of slowing down in his ninth decade as he continues like a man half, if not a third his age, with this latest thriller, a dramatic account of the kidnapping of J.P. Getty III, grandson of the richest man in the world, in Rome, 1973 that's infused with operatic sensibilities and grandeur that only Scott can muster the confidence/arrogance to make.

David Scarpa's script, full of telling titbits and fascinating details, can sometimes feels overstated and a little too on the nose. I docked my rating by at least a 1/2 star due to the artistic liberties taken with the condensed chronology that presents certain events in the end in a far too neat manner (a criticism that you can also apply to the film in general) that not only comes across as contrived but also scuppers exploration of untapped dramatic potentials that could have made the film even more interesting and poignant.

Inevitably, this film is now infamously associated with the last minute reshoots when Christopher Plummer replaced a radioactive Kevin Spacey who has quite a substantial role as J.P. Getty I. It is to both Scott's and Plummer's credit that the new scenes have been incorporated seamlessly and it is now impossible to imagine anyone else playing the role of the cold-hearted and miserly grandfather.

Michelle Williams is fine (though not as good as her other roles during previous Oscar seasons and her accent feels a little forced) as is Charlie Plummer, but Mark Wahlberg has little to do with a character that's more a convenient expository device, and Romain Duris's Italiano-English unfortunately reminds me of Joe Dulce but that's probably just me.