A Story of a Kidnapped Man and A Taken Role
It is hard to watch All the Money in the World without thinking about what it would’ve been if it weren’t for crackdown on Kevin Spacey that happened a little while ago now. Kevin Spacey was supposed to be one of the lead roles for this film and I can easily say that he would’ve most likely had been nominated for awards had he gotten away with what he was doing for even longer. Luckily that didn’t happen and Ridley Scott wouldn’t allow someone so evil to get in the way of his story. So Ridley Scott did the one thing anyone with the ability to do should do in that situation and replace Kevin Spacey entirely. This act alone makes the film worth watching as it turns out to be quite a large achievement today in a world where studios care more and more about their budgets.
All the Money in the World follows the true story of the kidnapping of 16 year old John Paul Getty III and the desperate scenario his mother had to go through to get money for his ransom from his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty who didn’t want to pay it. The boy’s mother is the daughter in law of Jean Paul Getty and she teams up with Getty’s associate Fletcher Chase to get a deal from the kidnappers because Jean Paul Getty refuses to pay as he doesn’t seem its a good deal.
The elephant in the room is that Christopher Plummer plays Jean Paul Getty as he replaces Kevin Spacey who was put through a lot of make up and work done to make him look like he was much older. In a few short weeks Ridley Scott managed to film all of the scenes with Jean Paul Getty having Christopher Plummer play him instead right up to the release of the film. The change, depsite only having seen Kevin Spacey in the role in the trailers, is strikingly unnoticeable. Your eyes scan the screen as you attempt to find just a single fault in the reshot scenes but you won’t find anything of the kind from Scott who uses his decades of experience to perform a modern day movie magic trick right before your eyes.
I only mention that all so much because its quite astonishing and Christopher Plummer ends up giving a wonderful performance as Jean Paul Getty, one that shouldn’t be overlooked and isn’t being overlooked. The rest of All the Money in the World is alright. The film plays out pretty much how you would expect it too and I went in not knowing the story at all or who the main players in this true tale were. Michelle Williams does a great job as an angry and worried mother while Mark Wahlberg is at his best as Fletcher Chase, a man stuck between a right and a wrong who needs to solve everything but also choose a side. All the Money in the World is astethically good looking whilst also feeling a little dull at times due to a small lack of intensity and rush.
All the Money in the World is the first film in this new age to get rid of a star because of what he has done. It is a shining light that no one is safe in this new world. Yes Kevin Spacey could’ve ended up winning an award and his acting could’ve been amazing but the fact that the film takes all of that away is reason enough to see this film. All the Money in the World is clearly an Oscar film that is just below par but it still does a good enough job to deserve a viewing, even if its to simply see how one director did so much in such a small amount of time to right a wrong.