“A slow burning gritty true story from Ridley Scott, and yes, minus Kevin Spacey.”

This film had become famous before it was released, simply due to the removal of Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty through massive reshoots with only a month to go before the release of the film.

What works:

The gritty tone suits the situation and the 70s time period. Scott has desaturated the film, giving it a faded look, which gives the film a feeling that the film was made in the 1970s and not just set there.

The story works as both a kidnapping thriller, and as a commentary on greed and what money can lead to. The J.P Getty story reminded me a bit of both Citizen Kane and of the current world of politics and how the top 1% (particularly in America) are amassing outrageous fortunes and greedily avoiding taxes through every means necessary.

The actors are the strongest part of the film, with Michelle Williams delivering a very strong performance as the desperate mother who has to stand up against the kidnappers, the press and the Getty empire. Williams, not a household name to many, is at her peak and choosing good roles, having recently performed well in The Greatest Showman.

Mark Wahlberg is good in a role I expected to be a ‘tough man’ role but instead is a man who has to use skills and experience in negotiating to get the job done. Not a flashy role, but a good expanse on his acting experience for Wahlberg.

Christopher Plummer is fantastic as Getty, and apparently, he was the first choice for Ridley Scott, but the studio made Scott choose Spacey as a bigger name. However, Spacey had to rely on lots of make-up, which from the original trailer (which included Spacey) it seems to me it would have been very distracting, as it looked pretty poor.

Spacey also apparently played the role very cold, however, Plummer gives the role a subtle level of humanity and being 88 years old, he doesn’t require any aging. The only time he didn’t look right, was in flashbacks, however these are minor scenes. Plummer had met Getty on a couple of occasions, which certainly shows through in his performance.

What doesn’t work:

Some scenes give a little too much detail and slow the pace too much. It’s not a lot, but some people will find the film a little slow.

Worth a look?

Absolutely worth watching. An interesting story, and the film seems to have captured the essence of what happened, even if several aspects were changed dramatically.

Most impressive aspect:

I was expecting there to be very few scenes with Christopher Plummer, as I assumed that his role was small since they reshot the scenes in just 8 days at the last minute. However, he is a major character in the film, especially in the first half. The fact that it seamlessly inserts the reshot scenes into the film in a way that you would never know it had occurred if you hadn’t been aware, is amazing.