Movie Review: "All The Money In The World"

"All The Money In The World": B. I may not go down in history as the World's Greatest Grandfather, notwithstanding my noble efforts, but dag nabbit, after watching All The Money In The World, I'm positive I won't be called the World's Worst either.  Nope.  That title indisputably belongs to multi-billionanaire oil baron J. Paul Getty.

The movie takes place in 1973 when Getty's sixteen year old grandson, John Paul III (Charlie Plummer), is kidnapped off the streets of Rome in the wee hours of the morning.  The kidnappers are comprised of a small band of criminals who are under the mistaken notion that their captive's mother, Gail (Michelle Williams), can tap into her own personal fortune to pay a $17 million ransom.  What they apparently don't realize is that Gail is not a rich woman, having chosen to turn down enormous alimony payments from the billionaire's son (her child's father) in connection with their divorce settlement nine years earlier.  In return, the child's father (Andrew Buchan) has relinquished all parental rights.

Although she is contractually cut off from the Getty fortune, Gail nevertheless goes to her former father-in-law to beg for the ransom money.  The old coot abruptly turns her down, with an explanation that paying for his grandson's release would only amount to an invitation for other criminals to kidnap his other grandchildren.  The grandfather is heartless, unable to mask the real reason for his rejection of Gail's desperate plea, viz., his miserly frugality.  What's more, his air of disinterest makes him despicable.  His saving grace is his willingness to direct one of his company's top negotiators, Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), to investigate.  Chase is a former CIA veteran who is well-equipped to deal with the criminals.

Williams, who gets top billing, is excellent as the boy's beleaguered mother.  As if worrying about her boy isn't enough, she also is besieged by the rude and intrusive media who can't believe that she is not at least a millionaire herself.  Although he is working for Getty, Chase develops an arm's length closeness (if that's not an oxymoron) to Gail.  As movie viewers, it's hard for us to know which way their relationship is heading.  No matter; as strong a woman as she is, Gail needs Chase to save her son.

Many kidnapping stories include a captor who empathizes with the captive, almost to the point of switching sides.  That good-hearted criminal is usually a female, but here it's Cinquanta (Romain Duris) who, in many ways, becomes the boy's protector.  To what lengths will this (almost) good-hearted kidnapper go to shield the teenager from the cutthroats?

The main off-screen buzz surrounding All The Money In The World pertained to eighty-eight year old actor Christopher Plummer, who plays the senior Getty.  Plummer was called upon by producer-director Ridley Scott to take the place of defrocked Kevin Spacey, originally cast to play the billionaire, after the latter became the subject of many sex abuse allegations made after the film's production was completed.  Scott, determined to retain the scheduled mid-December release date, required Plummer to learn his part in only nine days during which the scenes which had contained Spacey were reshot with Plummer.  Not only did Plummer heroically ace this challenge, he has been nominated for -- and is favored to win -- the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award.

Unfortunately the middle and final thirds of the movie do not fulfill the promise of the beginning.  Maybe an endless series of phone conversations is to be expected with this type of story, but they become momentum inhibitors.  There are too many times when things don't add up, and the denouement is too formulaic.  I will give extra points, however, for the scene in which the grandfather has a change of heart and states his willingness to pay a small portion equal to $1 million of the ransom.  That is the amount which he can claim as a tax deduction.  The oil man never does figure out that you can't take it with you.