All the Money in the World

"J. Paul Getty had a fortune. Everyone else paid the price."

Filmology Rating: 2.5 out of 4

“All The Money in The World” follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince the richest man in the world, his billionaire grandfather, (Christopher Plummer) to pay the ransom. When Getty Sr. refuses, Gail attempts to convince him as her son’s captors become increasingly brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time.

When people hear about this film, the majority will now think about Kevin Spacey getting replaced due to his sexual misconduct from years past. Director Ridley Scott knew he needed to cut Spacey out of the film and recast if this film was to be successful and with only a few months left till the film’s release, he re-cast the legendary Christopher Plummer and reshot all of his scenes. This was an extremely expensive and time sensitive endeavor but one that was well worth it because Mr. Plummer was superb. He was the beacon of light that guided the film from start to finish.

This leads us into the greatest feat this film has to offer, its acting. All around the cast and crew did a phenomenal job to truly capture the historical accuracy, the time period and its composition, and the dedication to their individual characters was apparent. Collectively they created one of the best ensembles of the season and deserve the Golden Globe, and soon to be Oscar nominations that they will be receiving. Alongside Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg was rock solid and played a very Mark Wahlbergesk character. The counter to Mr. Plummer’s powerful role was complimented by the beautiful and talented Michelle Williams. This will be another checkmark in her extremely long list of excellent roles she has played. While not quite as powerful as last years “Manchester by the Sea”, the Academy should no doubt recognize her once again.

I have a confession to make…. When I said that the “all around cast and crew did a phenomenal job”, I really meant to say all but one….. That one just so happened to be one of the most pivotal characters in the film, that being the grandson who got kidnapped. If I could describe his acting in one word it would be meh. Essentially he was the emoji meh and we all know how god awful that film was! He showed one emotion they entire film and before you start hating on me, yes I know shock and fear are very real emotions that one would be feeling during this time. I am not trying to take anything away from the situation itself but the actor was so lifeless and the character written for him was void of any character even before he was kidnapped that I honestly didn’t give a crap if he got rescued or not. This is what brought the movie WAY down for me. How can one truly invest himself within a movie if he doesn’t care if the plot works itself out?!?! This truly shocked me because the talented Ridley Scott failed to bring enough tension to the screen to convince me to remain emotionally invested with his characters. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and give a little blame to the writers as well…

Overall “All The Money in the World” is a good one time see with the only lasting impact being the acting of Christopher Plummer and Michelle Williams. Read up on your church stories because this story other furthered the parable of the love of money being the root of all evil.

Rating: Rent It 

-Nick