The Outrageous Misfortune of One of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty: Painfully Rich, Indeed.

All the Money in the World (2017)

7.1/10 on IMDb
77% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe;
It's alright

Watch it if you: Are interested in films based on true events;
Want a tense drama with some great acting, particularly by Christopher Plummer

Inspired by true events, All the Money in the World tells the story of when the richest man in the world refuses to pay the 17 million dollar ransom for his kidnapped grandson.

I think this film wasn't really marketed or hyped a lot, and thus there wasn't much talk about it, particularly in the light of other Oscar-season movies such as The Post (2017) coming out around the same time. Surprisingly, this movie was actually really well done, and it just goes to show that Ridley Scott is far from being done with his directing days.

While I don't think this is a particularly amazing film in terms of rewatchability, it is actually a pretty intense film and really well made.

It's a bit long, with a run time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the movie felt pretty tight, and you don't really think of how long it is since it's 2 hours and 15 minutes of tensions. The fact that it is also based on true events makes the story feel so incredulous when watching it.

In fact I think if I didn't know it was a true story, I honestly would have thought, "This movie is so stupid. It's unrealistic, unbelievable, and just stupid."

And while they do dramatise some things that didn't happen, some things that happened in real life were actually worse than in the movie! You walk out of the theatre absolutely hating John Paul Getty Senior. Even though he's in the film for a short amount of time, his sinister presence overshadows the entire film.

Christopher Plummer did such a great job at playing this complete dickhead of a character. His blasé attitude and frugal nature to the kidnapping, ransom demands, and torture of his own grandchild make you really, really, despise him.

And to top it all off, Christopher Plummer wasn't even in this movie originally! It was meant to be Kevin Spacey in old age make up and prosthetics, but over the sexual assault allegations made over Spacey, they had to quickly reshoot his scenes with Christopher Plummer in something like 9 days. And you can't even really tell, because the movie was edited so well and even almost flawlessly.

Christopher Plummer was Ridley Scott's original desired actor, but I heard somewhere that the studio wanted someone more famous to help sell the movie. Which in hindsight is ridiculous not just because of the sexual assault allegations, but because 1) Kevin Spacey looks ridiculous (same link as before but honestly, he looks so weird!), and 2) Christopher Plummer is one of the best parts of this movie.

I mean, this guy walks in, rushes to learn his lines and do a quick 9 day job, does an amazing job while he's at it, and he gets nominated for a Golden Globe, and is possibly getting nominated for an Oscar. And, he's 88 years old! He's a legend, basically, is what I'm saying.

The other actors did really well too, with Michelle Williams being a really strong and determined mother who's stressed out to the max and is trying her darndest to convince J. Paul Getty Sr. to pay the ransom. The same goes with Mark Wahlberg, he's been doing a really good job with his most recent films lately, and I'm happy he's been choosing to do these good dramatic roles (I mean, for a guy who's doing stuff like Daddy's Home and Transformers movies...)

Charlie Plummer was also convincing as the kidnapped grandson, and I really loved his scenes with Romain Duris who plays Cinquanta. Duris was fantastic and he stole the show every time he was on scene.

So this film was surprisingly very intense and well made. It was able to build that tension relating to the kidnapping and J. Paul Getty Sr. not wanting to oay a single cent of the ransom. It can be quite suspenseful, and some scenes are really graphic and not for the faint-hearted. Christopher Plummer does an amazing job, as do the other actors, and Ridley Scott does a fine job as a director for seamlessly recasting Kevin Spacey so last minute. It's probably not something you will re-watch, but it provides a really interesting insight into this dysfunctional family.

A few side comments:

• Sometimes real life is worse than in the movies. According to Wikipedia:

When the kidnappers finally reduced their demands to $3 million, Getty senior agreed to pay no more than $2.2 million—the maximum that would be tax-deductible. He lent his son the remaining $800,000 at 4% interest. Paul III was found alive in a filling station of Lauria, in the province of Potenza, shortly after the ransom was paid. After his release Paul III called his grandfather to thank him for paying the ransom but, it is claimed, Getty refused to come to the phone. Nine people associated with 'Ndrangheta were later arrested for the kidnapping, but only two were convicted. Paul III was permanently affected by the trauma and became a drug addict. After a stroke brought on by a cocktail of drugs and alcohol in 1981, Paul III was rendered speechless, nearly blind and partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. He died 30 years later on February 5, 2011 at the age of 54.