All the Money in the World (Movie Review by Bob Racine)

All the Money in the World (Movie Review by Bob Racine)       

2 hrs & 12 Min, color, 2017

If one is able to count one’s money, that is a clear sign that that person is not a billionaire.  Put another way, wealth that can be tabulated is wealth that is always in danger of depletion.  So claims one of the greediest, stingiest barons of the buck that ever stepped onto a movie theater screen, if the details of this docudrama are accurate.  He is portrayed by Christopher Plummer; the name he is given is J. Paul Getty, the wealthiest individual as of 1973 according to all known records at the time.  He was an oil rich magnate. As portrayed he is the kind of crotchety fellow we movie goers have often guiltily enjoyed watching and listening to, while we wait for his comeuppance to materialize.

The screenplay is concerned with the kidnapping of one of his grandsons by a Mafia-like organization in Italy.  The kid is held for ransom, which Getty is unwilling to pay, lest he encourage other kidnappings of his scattered relatives.  At least that is the excuse he offers for his attitude of stubborn resistance.  What actually lurks in his mind is not given full disclosure until late in the film.  He refuses to deal with the kidnappers, while behind their back he hires an investigator (Mark Wahlberg) to track down where the kid is being held and work his wiles on rescuing him. 

Actually Plummer is a supporting player in this drama.  The lead is Michelle Williams in the role of the kid’s devoted mother, Getty’s daughter-in-law, who tries every devious way she can to persuade the man to pay the ransom and obtain the kid’s release.  The struggle is essentially hers, and Williams’ portrayal, while not seismic in its style of delivery, is nevertheless electrifying.  What she does with non-verbal cues and facial expressions is remarkable. She is every threatened, vulnerable, seemingly powerless person who has ever been caught on the horns of a dilemma involving the threatened life of a loved one and her own sense of human decency.  And she really makes us identify with her predicament.  How do you deal with criminal minds linked to avarice and murderous intention and keep your own sense of moral balance? 

The movie goes from quite good to better and finally to powerfully suspenseful without holding anything back.  The closing moments deliver quite a dramatic payoff.  The direction is by the renowned Ridley Scott, the screenplay by David Scarpa from a book by John Pearson.

To read other entries in my blog, please consult its website:enspiritus.blogspot.com.  To know about me, consult the autobiographical entry on the website for Dec. 5, 2016.