Starring: Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg, Christopher Plummer, Charlie Plummer, Timothy Hutton, Romain Duris
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Crime drama directed by Ridley Scott based upon the true events surrounding the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. The story centers on kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother, Gail (Michelle Williams), to convince his billionaire grandfather, J. Paul Getty Sr. (Christopher Plummer) to pay the ransom.
When Getty Sr. refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor, Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money.
Our Favorite Quote:
'Everything has a price. The great struggle in life is coming to grips with what that price is.' - J. Paul Getty (All the Money in the World) Share on X
Best Quotes (Total Quotes: 33)
John Paul Getty III: [voice over] To be a Getty is an extraordinary thing. My grandfather wasn’t just the richest man in the world, he was the richest man in the history of the world. We look like you, but we’re not like you. It’s like we’re from another planet where the force of gravity is so strong it bends the light. It bends people too.
Playboy Interviewer: It’s been reported that you are the first man in history with a fortune in excess of a billion dollars.
J. Paul Getty: I have no idea. But if you can count your money, you’re not a billionaire.
John Paul Getty III: [voice over] I’m telling you this so you can understand the things you’re about to see, and maybe you can forgive us. It’s like we’re from another planet, where the force of gravity is so strong it bends the light. We look like you, but we’re not like you.
[on the phone]
Cinquanta: Signora, we have your son.
Gail Harris: God. Thank you. Is he alright?
Cinquanta: No, signora, we are rapitori, kidnappers, and have him captive.
Gail Harris: Is this some kind of joke?
Cinquanta: No, no. Is no joke, signora. He’s okay. He’s not harmed. We will send proof in the coming days.
Gail Harris: Who are you?
Cinquanta: I am Cinquanta. Paul is safe. But it will require seventeen million dollars to release him. Go to the police if you like. It makes no difference.
Gail Harris: I don’t have any money.
Cinquanta: Get it from your father-in-law. He has all the money in the world.
J. Paul Getty: Everything has a price. The great struggle in life is coming to grips with what that price is.
Getty’s Secretary: I’m sorry, Ms. Getty, Mr. Getty is unavailable at the moment.
Gail Harris: Tell him it’s regarding his grandson’s kidnapping in Rome. I’ll wait.
Reporter: Mr. Getty, how much would you pay to release your grandson, if not seventeen million dollars?
J. Paul Getty: Nothing.
J. Paul Getty: Remind me again, Chace, your family situation.
Fletcher Chase: Well, I was married three times. First one left me for my brother, second was a fashion model, and then the third, I just finalized.
J. Paul Getty: I always say, “You never really know anyone until you’ve been through a divorce.”
Fletcher Chase: I wish you would’ve told me that three marriages ago. You know, they say money can’t buy love, it turns out you just have to wait till the end for the check to come, right?
J. Paul Getty: Children?
Fletcher Chase: No, I was never home much.
J. Paul Getty: Yeah, same here. There was something my father always used to say, “A man who has children gives hostages to fortune.”
Fletcher Chase: Well, your father was a wise man.
J. Paul Getty: Yeah. He told me I would never be worth a damn. So, I made him look like a pauper.
Fletcher Chase: You certainly did that, sir.
Fletcher Chase: My name is Fletcher Chace. I’m going to help you find your son.
Gail Harris: I’m sure you’re very good at what you do, Mr. Chace. My former father-in-law only buys the best, but I don’t need an ex-secret agent to solve the mystery of what happened to my son, because there is no mystery. I need one thing only, and that is seventeen million dollars.
Fletcher Chase: Paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee you get your son back.
Gail Harris: Not paying the ransom nearly guarantees I don’t.
Fletcher Chase: Well, I’d say your son’s chances are better than that.
Gail Harris: Why don’t you explain the odds to me. Is it a coin toss? Heads he lives, tails he dies. I can see how that’s a chance worth taking when there’s real money at stake.
Fletcher Chase: I don’t think this is about money for Mr. Getty.
J. Paul Getty: The one thing I’ve learned is that money is never just money. Alright? It always stands for something. Usually it stands for the one thing they’ve never had. And until you know what that thing is, you’re just beating your head against the bricks.
Gail Harris: My son Paul must be very frightened right now. I know I’m frightened for him. So, to the people who took him, I don’t care why you did this, but I ask, as a mother, that you think of your own children or of the child that you once were and set my boy free. Thank you.
Fletcher Chase: Well, seventeen million sure brings out a crowd.
Fletcher Chase: And you, Ms. Getty, they will take you, too, if they get a chance. Which is why I put you under police protection. You will find my officers in your home.
Gail Harris: I don’t need anyone’s protection. I’m not a real Getty. I never was. I’m an ordinary person.
Fletcher Chase: No, you’re not a person anymore. You’re a symbol.
Gail Harris: You carry a gun, Mr. Chace? You said you used to be a spy.
Fletcher Chase: Well, it’s not howl put it on my tax returns, but, yeah.
Gail Harris: Spies carry guns.
Fletcher Chase: I never bothered. It ruins the line of your suit.
Fletcher Chase: Did Paul ever talk to you about having himself kidnapped?
Gail Harris: You’ve got to remember who the Gettys are. Every time someone stays in the bathroom for too long, someone makes a joke about being held for ransom. Paul might have cracked a joke once or twice among friends.
Fletcher Chase: There’s that word again.
Gail Harris: What word?
Fletcher Chase: A joke. You said you thought it was a joke when it first happened.
Gail Harris: Now you sound like that policeman. Whose side are you on, Mr. Chace?
Fletcher Chase: I’m on my own side. Always. And if this is a joke, I’d like to make sure that I’m in on it.
J. Paul Getty: When I wrote my book “How to Be Rich”, the publishers wanted to change the title. They wanted to call it “How to Get Rich”. Well, I told them, “Getting rich is easy.” I mean, any fool can get rich. And any number of fools do. I’ve noticed that. But being rich, that’s something else.
J. Paul Getty: When a man becomes wealthy, he has to deal with the problems of freedom. All the choices he could possibly want. An abyss opens up. Well, I’ve watched that abyss. I’ve watched it ruin men, marriages. But most of all, it ruins the children.
J. Paul Getty: I thought I could trust my own blood.
J. Paul Getty: Things, objects, artifacts, paintings, and they are exactly what they appear to be. They never change. They never disappoint. There’s a purity to beautiful things that I’ve never been able to find in another human being.
Getty’s Secretary: Mr. Getty, your grandson, he’s been kidnapped!
Cinquanta: Come on, drink. Fast as you can swallow. You drink enough, you can’t feel a thing.
[referring to the man entering the room]
John Paul Getty III: Who is that? What do you mean I’m not going to feel it?
Cinquanta: [to John] He’s a good doctor. I promise.
Cinquanta: [to John] These men are going to take a part of you. let them have it and live.
Gail Harris: [to Chase] You bastards! You did nothing! All of you! You couldn’t find Paul, so you came up with a story to cover your tracks. You made Paul into the criminal. You gave up.
John Paul Getty III: They sold the boy to an investor.
Fletcher Chase: An investor? Who invests in kidnapped children?
John Paul Getty III: You’d be surprised. There’s nothing people can’t find a way to turn into money. You told me that Paul and his mother had cooked this up to soak me.
Fletcher Chase: And I was wrong, alright? Paul may have talked about being kidnapped with his friends. He put it out there. He’s not behind this.
John Paul Getty III: How do I know that you’re not wrong now?
Fletcher Chase: They will do things to Paul that cannot be undone for any amount of money. We have to pay.
John Paul Getty III: Well, this simply isn’t possible. My financial position has changed.
Fletcher Chase: Really? I mean, thirty seconds ago, you said it was a good day. I mean, I’m not all that bright, but I can multiply as well as you. With oil up as much as it was this morning, you have amassed another fortune.
John Paul Getty III: Well, what if the embargo is lifted and oil were to crash? I’d be exposed. I have never been more vulnerable financially than I am right now.
Fletcher Chase: Mr. Getty, with all due respect, nobody has ever been richer than you are at this moment.
John Paul Getty III: I have no money to spare.
Fletcher Chase: What would it take? I mean, what would it take for you to feel secure?
John Paul Getty III: More.
Fletcher Chase: We have to show we are willing to walk away.
Gail Harris: I can’t walk away. You can walk away, because you have nothing else in your life. Because there’s no one in your life but yourself.
Fletcher Chase: Fair enough.
John Paul Getty III: Mom, is that you?
Gail Harris: Paul?
John Paul Getty III: It’s okay. I’m safe now. I’m at the police station. I’m alright. But I need you to come and get me.
Gail Harris: What police station are you at?
John Paul Getty III: They came so close. I just want to go home, Mom. Please come get me. Please.
Gail Harris: Okay. I’m coming to get you. What police station are you at?
John Paul Getty III: Hold on. Let me ask. Excuse me?
[the line is cut off]
Gail Harris: Paul?
John Paul Getty III: Now, you just take it easy. Sleep on it and have your attorney read it over.
Gail Harris: I don’t have time to sleep on it. My child is being held prisoner.
John Paul Getty III: Well, there is that. I let you have the money back then.
Gail Harris: I didn’t ask for anything but my kids. You just can’t bear to leave anything on the table, can you?
Gail Harris: I’m fighting an empire.
Fletcher Chase: Can you hear me? I want to make sure that I am very clear. Because whatever personal security you presently enjoy comes from me. Alright? Those Alsatians limping around the pool? My people trained them. Your security system? My people installed it. The bodyguards? That’s right, you rapacious old fuck, you are protected from every threat imaginable, unless that threat happens to be me.
J. Paul Getty: I suppose this is your way of submitting your resignation.
Fletcher Chase: Hey!
[he grabs Getty by the arm]
Fletcher Chase: “Men of risk”? Isn’t that what you called us? “I risk my money. You risk your life.” You’re so full of shit. You and me? We never risked a thing in our lives. We never took the chances ordinary people take. That’s why we are where we are now. You’re just cheap, Paul. You could have all the money in the world, and you are still a no-good miserable son of a bitch, and don’t you forget it. Goodbye, Mr. Getty.
[he starts to walk away]
J. Paul Getty: Those childrenare my blood, Chace!
[Chace wave goodbye as he leaves]
J. Paul Getty: They’re mine. She took them.
[on the phone to Gail]
Cinquanta: Obey these rules, or they will take his other ear. His eye. A hand.
Total Quotes: 33
What do you think ofAll the Money in the World?! Let us know what you think in the comments below as we’d love to know.
Trailer:
All the Money in the World, the film that slid under the radar of the audience and film goers…until Kevin Spacey got replaced at the very last minute!
All the Money in the World. The Ridley Scott directed thriller had kind of been lying dormant for some months, with many film goers including myself being blissfully unaware of the film’s existence. That was until the height of the Sexual Misconduct scandal around Hollywood in the autumn of last year, where the allegations against Kevin Spacey (who was originally cast to play Oil industrialist J.P Getty) resulted of him getting recast just mere weeks before the film’s premiere. Spacey was replaced by Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer, known for winning Best Supporting Actor in the film Beginners.
The film’s plot surrounds the true life kidnapping of Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III, who gets abducted by a crime mafia organisation and the trials of his mother, (played by Michelle Williams) to get the money from Getty himself to pay the extortionate amount of money to get her son released.
My initial expectations before watching the film were that this film could potentially go in either one of two directions: it could either be completely engaging or completely boring; but, I do believe Oscar bait movies are very divisive and they will either really work or really fail. But, this film also has the benefit of a very good director in Ridley Scott, who is behind some of my favourite films ever, including: Alien, Blade Runner and The Martian. As well as, some great talent in the cast from Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg and of course Christopher Plummer.
So what did I think of the film? I really enjoyed it. Commencing with the simple fact that Christopher Plummer steals the show and is the strongest thing in this movie. The fact that he had 6 weeks to pull this off and especially since he is coming close to 90 years old; that on its own deserves credit. You buy him as not only “the richest man in the world”, but “the richest man in the history of world”. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a hot favourite to win in awards season.
One of the other big strengths of the film is how intense the film is in its tone, keeping you on the edge of your seat without the film’s slow burner pace hindering in any way. From watching Gail Harris determined to get her son back and facing every tough decision ahead, such as coming to terms with Getty refusing to give any money and finding out how the crime organisation have been torturing her son. Right off the bat, as the film opens with the kidnap of Getty III, it gives you such an insight in the tone the film was going for and it succeeded. Scott executed the intensity with absolute ease through his director, especially in one of the film’s climatic scenes involving a graphic torture scene with an ear as the focus; which kept the audience in pure suspense and dread of what was going to happen next.
It works consistently as an intense thriller, with driven plot and motivations accompanied by superb direction and amazing performances from the actors (in particular Plummer and Williams.) This film oozes in award nominations and is thoroughly deserving of it. This is definitely a movie not to be missed.
Rating: 4/5
Revised:
Williams performance was spectacular. How far could you go to free your captive son? Could you give up custody of your children? Could you pedal a figurine given to your son by Getty which proved to be worthless. The grandson escapes, only to be freed by a kidnapper’s remorse. A better title would be “With All The Money In The World”… just pay the random.
Williams performance was spectacular. How far could you go to free your captive son? Could you give up custody of your children? Could you pedal a figurine given to your son by Getty which proved to be worthless. The grandson escapes, only to be actually freed by a kidnapper’s remorse. A better title would be “For All The Money In The World”…just pay the ransom.
Christopher Plummer’s portrayal of J. Paul Getty was fantastic. Getty’s insatiable need for power and money almost cost him the life of his kidnapped grandson. Thankfully, Getty’s heirs would not succumb to his ways. Buy some treats at the concession stand.