All right, director Ridley Scott has gotten this movie on time and I have to applaud his efforts by turning the movie around because of the allegations. Once the trailer came out, I was hooked because of the story and because I did not know it was Kevin Spacey underneath that makeup portraying J. Paul Getty so I was excited. Unfortunately for Spacey, multiple sexual assault allegations were leveled against him and the role was recast for Plummer, which was his initial choice. So, after all the reshoots and the recasting, did it pay off? The movie does not entirely pay off due to an awkward middling section but the performances and the whole story is what keeps the movie afloat thanks to Mr. Scott.
The movie starts in an awkward state which Gail Harris (Michelle Williams) has gotten a divorce and Gail rejects the Getty Oil's money in the settlement but she still cared for J.P. Getty III (Charlie Plummer). Unfortunately, he gets kidnapped in Rome by an organized crime ring. The kidnappers demand a ransom of $17 million from his mother, because they assume that she is still married into the Getty family. She travels to the Getty's estate to implore the oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer) to pay the ransom, he publicly refuses in front of the media.
Getty asks Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), a negotiator and former CIA operative, to investigate the case and try to get Paul out of there. Paul is kept in a remote location where his captors are initially receptive to him, including Cinquanta (Romain Duris). But, the captors grow impatient as the ransom is not paid, far longer than they anticipated as Getty tries to figure out how to get his grandson back and also pay maybe a sufficient amount to the captors.
For completing re-shoots in less than two weeks, this is still a well-made, well-acted movie that sees into the abyss of what a testament of power defines a character especially during a hostage situation where it involved a family member. In Getty's case, every penny helps literally in which loves about every merchandise or item in his possession. You can see greed in his eyes in his dark-lighted mansion that hinders upon his life. It is darkness overshadowing his soul as his grand-son is unfortunately paying the price for no particular reason. The kidnappers only want money. There is a measurement of greed from both sides that could overpower the other. It is a chess game.
Michelle Williams is maybe getting overlooked during this awards season and could be a dark horse to probably earn an Oscar nomination but it may be too late in the race as it is sort of a stacked category for actress. She channels in the sharp intensity of trying to get some help and support from his son's blood from the grandfather while having some terror by potentially losing a son forever. She is fantastic. Mark Wahlberg is fine in the role but did not convince me as he is fit for being an investigator or as a negotiator for the terrorists. You can hear a bit of the Boston accent from him at times. However, Christopher Plummer is impressive as he portrays a mysterious and dark figure of power that people will turn away from because of his ego. He is one of the best elements in the movie and if not too late, I would not count him out to get a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
This is a good but not great Ridley Scott movie but I can see this movie being under the radar compared to his other work. I mean his best work of the decade so far is The Martian with personally Prometheus and this movie behind it. It does get repetitive in the middle as the ransom demands get chaotic and it becomes tiring but it finishes off strongly with some suspense. It is a gritty thriller that will displays the importance of fortune and power and how much it costs to sign or save a life away.
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