All the Money in the World – Worth the watch

If you can get past the controversy of recasting Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer and having all relevant scenes reshot in about a week, you’ll actually find there’s quite an interesting film here.  It’s based on a true story about the (at the time this film was set) richest man in the world, oil billionaire Paul Getty, and his reaction to the kidnapping of his grandchild back in 1973.  Now, most of us would instantly say ‘Just pay the ransom!’ if a family member was in mortal danger (and you had millions in your back account!).  However, he responded by saying something like, ‘I have fourteen grandchildren.  If I pay the ransom for one I’ll have thirteen more kidnapped grandchildren.’ Weirdly, and against all natural parental reactions, I can kind of see where he’s coming from.

‘All the Money in the World’ is directed by veteran, Ridley Scott, so, if you’ve ever seen any of his other work, you’ll know you’re in for a visual treat.  Now, on to the casting… Despite a strong cast, all talk about who was in it surrounds Kevin Spacey, who was recast after all his scenes were shot and edited into the movie, due to his off-screen life at the time.  Therefore, Christopher Plummer stepped in at the last minute and went on to win awards.  Before I saw the film I did wonder whether these awards were given simply to try and justify the blatant recasting, however, now I’ve watched it, I can see that he did turn in an amazing performance at what must have been extremely short notice.  But, while we’re on the subject of the stars, I think Mark Walberg deserves a mention for his part as Getty’s ‘facilitator.’

I guess if the film does have a ‘drawback’ is that some may feel that it goes on for quite a long time.  It feels like it’s drawing to a conclusion at just over the halfway mark, before you realise that it’s all starting off again.  This is certainly not a thrill-ride, so you’ll need to know that you’re not going to get Bruce Willis storming into an enemy lair to rescue the teenage Getty.  Instead, you get the story as it plays out – and all the laborious and depressing loopholes that have to be jumped through in order to get your loved one returned to you safely.

So, if you’re in the mood for something well-acted, well-directed, interesting, yet kind of long and drawn out, then you should definitely give this one a watch.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that