Plummer owns the screen, even when he’s not on it.
If nothing else, All the Money in the World is remarkable for having edited out one lead actor for another at the 11th hour. This recounting of the 1973 kidnapping of billionaire John Paul Getty’s grandson, J. Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer, no relation), initially co-starred Kevin Spacey as Getty the elder. Following the recent sexual assault allegations against Spacey — and in a bit of inspired last-minute maneuvering — 88-year-old cinema icon Christopher Plummer stepped into the role, necessitating a wealth of re-shoots.
The result is almost surely a better movie. Plummer is far closer to Getty’s actual age, for one thing. He also commands the screen with a miserly sort of gravitas that all but oozes the wolfish avarice that drove J.P. Getty: Greed is great; and everything, everyone, has a price.
In his adaptation of John Pearson’s book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty, screenwriter David Scarpa flashes back through the lives of Getty, his estranged daughter-in-law Gail (a top-notch Michelle Williams) and young Paul. He settles on the triumvirate of devoted mother Gail, teenage Paul and his kidnapping in Rome, and the ex-CIA operative and Getty’s goon Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg). The kidnappers initially ask for $17 million for the lad’s safe return, but John Paul Getty is having none of it, forcing Gail and Chase to haggle in desperation.
A surface viewing makes it feel like this is one of director Ridley Scott’s lesser magnum opuses but on closer inspection, the story is contemporaneous, given its through-line of amoral acquisitiveness. Williams and Wahlberg hold their own against the former Captain von Trapp, but really this is a delicious Christopher Plummer movie in all but top billing (Williams gets that). At his advanced age, Plummer shows no sign of slowing down, and thank the stars for that. His youthful vigor may be contained for the role (unlike in 2010’s wonderful Beginners), but he owns the screen even when he’s not actually on it. Mesmerizing is an overused description of great actors, but in this case it’s faint praise indeed.
