leonblackwood
Review:
When I saw the cast in this movie, along with the top director, I had high expectations for this film but I wasn't that impressed with the outcome. Don't get me wrong, it's full of intensity from the beginning to the end, and there are some good performances from Plummer and Williams but like many movies that were released this year, it just seemed too long and the plot went round and round in circles. I didn't know anything about the John Paul Getty III kidnapping, so I was quite surprised that the plot was true but from an entertainment point of view, I expected more from Ridley Scott, who has been letting me down of late. Anyway, the movie is set in 1973, and it begins with a 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) wandering around the streets of Rome, without a care in the world. After chatting to a couple of prostitutes on the street, John is kidnapped by an organised crime ring, who demand a $17million ransom from his Billionaire grandfather, Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), who was at that time the world's richest private citizen. The movie then flashes back to 1971, when Paul's parents, Gail Harris (Michelle Williams) and John Paul Getty Jr. (Andrew Buchan), were divorced, due to John's drug addiction and womanising. Gail rejected any alimony in exchange for full custody of her children in the divorce settlement, so she hasn't got any way to pay the ransom. She turns to Paul Getty for help with paying the kidnappers but he refuses to pay them, stating that it would encourage further kidnappings on his family. With the media paying much attention to the kidnapping, Paul turns to his Getty Oil negotiator, and former CIA agent operative, Fletcher Chace (Mark Wahlberg), to investigate the case and secure Paul's release. Meanwhile, Getty III is held hostage in a remote location in Italy, and one of the kidnappers, Cinquanta (Romain Duris), take a shine to him because of his quiet and submissive demeanour. After waiting ages for the ransom to be paid, they decide to move Getty III to another location. Meanwhile, Fletcher manages to track down the kidnapper's whereabouts but they have already moved to there new location, where they have sold Paul Getty III to a more ruthless set of kidnappers. With Cinquanta negotiating with Gail over the phone, they drop the ransom but she still can't come up with the money. The kidnappers then send the newspapers Getty III left ear, to show that they mean business, and after some harsh words between Fletcher and Paul Getty, the Oil Tycoon finally agrees to pay the ransom. Basically, the whole situation could have been dealt with much sooner, if Paul Getty wasn't so tight with his money but I can understand the principle in why he didn't want to pay them after the first demand. His unemotional demeanour, even though he kept on saying that Getty III was his favourite grandchild, really did surprise me throughout the film but it was obvious that he had to crack at the end. The director could have shown how horrendous the situation was from Getty III point of view, which would have made the long kidnapping seem more intense. Anyway, Michelle Williams and Christopher Plummer put in a top performance, and it was good to see Wahlberg not showing off his muscles, or blowing anything up for a change. I also liked Romain Duris, who played Cinquanta because he brought some authenticity to the movie, and he seemed to be the only person who really cared about Getty III, except for his mother of course. Although Getty had all of the money in the world, he really was a lonely person, who died of heart-related problems before he got to see his grandson. Surpringsly, he left Gail to manage her children's inherited wealth until they are of age, and she is told that his company was set up as a charitable trust, which meant that Getty's income was tax-free but not spendable. After such an emotional ordeal, we don't get to see how it takes it's toll on the family because the director chose to spend most of the time concentrating on the kidnapping. Personally, I was more interested in Paul Getty than the kidnapping because his story was quite amazing. Anyway, it's another one of those movies that's worth a one-watch but once you know the outcome, you won't be wanting to watch it again. Average!Round-Up:
With Kevin Spacy having to pull out at the last minute because of the sexual misconduct allegations, Ridley Scott only had a month to reshoot all of his scenes, with the newly cast Christopher Plummer as J. Paul Getty. What A Task! Everyone thought that it would have been easier to ditch the project, especially as the advertising campaign was due to start within a month but Ridley Scott used the scenes that he already had shot, and added some new shots with Plummer to make the deadline. Personally, I couldn't imagine anyone else playing J. Paul Getty! Anyway, everyone is familiar with Ridley Scott's previous work, which includes the fantastic Alien franchise, although the new ones are a bit lame, the Blade Runner franchise, Legend, Black Rain, Thelma & Louise, White Squall, G.I. Jane, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, Kingdom Of Heaven, American Gangster, Body Of Lies, Robin Hood, The Counsellor, Exodus and the Martian. He's kind of lost his touch of late, especially with the latest Alien movies but at 80 years old, and 8 projects in the pipeline, he's not showing any signs of slowing down. He's known for getting what he wants when it comes to directing but I personally find him moody and miserable. With that aside, he has made some of the biggest movies of all time, and he has been nominated for 4 Oscars for the Martian, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator and Thelma & Louise but he's always been beaten at the post. I'm sure he will get a lifetime achievement award, at some point but he has a long way to go to meet the standards that he was hitting with his previous blockbusters. Average!Budget: $50million
Worldwide Gross: $57millionGenre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Cast: Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Romain Duris, Timothy Hutton, Charlie Plummer, Andrew Buchan, Marco Leonardi and Giuseppe Bonifati. 6/10
catimeup
Let me get this out of the way first, the story does get in the way of me enjoying the movie. A billionaire who can't afford to pay for his favorite grandson's ransom, makes sense when considering they could go after the other dozen or so grandkids he has. In that respect it makes sense. The first amount he agrees to actually pay ends up being the amount that is tax deductible...sounds like Shylock asking for his pound of flesh. Later paying the 4 or so million after being threatened by his liaison/security man. I admit Williams did a solid performance as the mother, Plummer plays a convincing Scrooge type character, Mark Wahlberg perhaps is a bit bland or out of place enough to not have a clue how to portray the role. The later is understandable considering his character felt out of place in relation to the movie, so I don't blame him for his lack of any scene chemistry. The kidnappers started out fine, take the kid to secure location, don't give him any details of where he is. So far nothing wrong. Soon enough the kidnappers are lowering their price after months and everything seems to be poorly managed. For 17 million I would expect better organizational and planning skills, combined with a better watchful eye on the bait who seems capable of pulling a MacGyver. In the credits they mention the plot and sequence of events was altered to better suit the movie. It seemed all over the place. There remained elements that could have been added and quite a few that could have been easily left out of the script. While technically not a change of plot, I believe adding Christopher Plummer as old man tight wallet was a better fit for the role than Kevin Spacey. No offence to Spacey's acting, but Plummer in my opinion suits the character more. The change being done initially for the sake of Spacey's allegations was also a great choice for a mainstream movie to say no to actors who have checkered pasts due to allegations. Whether those allegations prove true or not is a whole other can of worms. As much praise as I give the studio for having gotten rid of Spacey, I don't consider carrying that sentiment over toward the movie. In all the movie seemed chaotic, and having only 2 characters carrying the movie alone is not enough. Could have used more emotion, more dramatic effect. I felt as if the kidnapping could have used more elements of terror.
Given 3 stars seems more than a fair pound of flesh.
Jack Bennett
When 16-year-old John Getty III is kidnapped, his devoted mother attempts to get the ransom money from his billionaire grandfather - but he refuses to offer a dime.In 1973, oil tycoon John Paul Getty's 16-year-old grandson is kidnapped in Rome by a group of masked men and held to ransom for $17m. Throughout the film, reference is made to Getty's intense frugality; he washed his own underwear in a 5* hotel bathroom to save the $10 laundry service fee, he installed pay phone in his mansion for guests to use, he negotiated his own grandsons ransom to make it tax-deductible. He once quipped to reporters during the crisis that he refused to honour the initial demand (his equivalent to sofa change) since it would encourage the kidnap of his other grandchildren. It sounds ridiculous, but it really happened.The film plods along at a steady pace but is only interesting when Getty Sr is the focus of attention. If the role remained Spacey's, you'd always suspect he was up to something - that's just the type of character Spacey has become known for since the likes of Se7en, Usual Suspects and House of Cards - but Christopher Plummer trusted demeanour means his selfish intentions come as a constant surprises. Michelle Williams is phenomenal as a tested mother at her wits end, fighting against the reluctance and condescending indifference of most of the men in the story - the irony that her pay was a tiny fraction of Wahlberg's fee should not be lost.The only real problem is the ending - it's a mess of tired clichés, an unnecessarily tacked-on chase scene and a final 'twist' that obviously didn't happen in real life. It smacks of a last-ditch attempt to add quick-paced action where it simply doesn't fit.This film will be remembered for the miracle of its release - the fact it got finished at all following the career-ending allegations against Kevin Spacey and subsequent reshoots with Plummer just four weeks before its premier is a true testament to modern filmmaking and Sir Ridley's resolve in the face of immense adversity. It's hard to believe that Getty himself would've have been so open to the effort and expense.Best Quote: "It's been reported that you're the first man in history with a fortune in excess of a billion dollars." "I have no idea, but, if you can count your money you're not a billionaire."
