"All the Money in the World" gets positive reviews despite last-minute recasting
Ridley Scott only had a few weeks to reshoot Kevin Spacey's scenes in "All the Money in the World" after news broke that numerous men were accusing the actor of sexual misconduct and assault. The director recast Christopher Plummer in the role and worked through Thanksgiving week with the cast in order to make the Dec. 22 release date -- and he pretty much pulled it off. The film will now open in theaters on Dec. 25 and is getting a warm critical reception.
Spacey was playing mogul J. Paul Getty in the film, which is based on the true story of the 1973 kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III, grandson of the oil tycoon. Plummer took over the role as the elder Getty, who refused to pay the ransom for his grandson. The film centers on the teenager's mother, played by Michelle Williams, as she works with a former CIA operative (Mark Wahlberg) to find her son.
In November, Scott boasted to Entertainment Weekly that he knew remaking the movie would work out fine.
"Because I know I can deliver. I move like lightning," he said. "After a while you learn to trust and listen to your intuition. And I listen to mine. I trust it."
Scott's intuition was right. Critics are giving "All the Money in the World" mostly positive reviews; the film currently has a 90 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave Plummer glowing praise in his review of the film.
"We'll never know how Spacey handled the role, but Plummer finds depths in the character barely hinted at in the by-the-numbers script from David Scarpa," he wrote.
Travers raved about Scott's work and singled out Plummer's performance as particularly impressive.
"There's not a moment when 'All the Money in the World' isn't vital, visceral filmmaking," he wrote. "But only Plummer cuts deep to the roots of a character who feels more comfortable laying hands on his famous art collection, later housed at the Getty Museum, than feeling the human touch of his family. Locked in the prison of his own wealth and suspicion, Getty is truly a figure of pity and terror. And Plummer plays him with acid humor, stunted emotion and magisterial skill."
Brian Truitt of USA Today also singles out Plummer, saying, "There's not a whole lot of cinematic intrigue involving the actual kidnapping. Scott paces the action well, the younger Getty is tortured but finds an ally in the group holding him, but it's all pretty straightforward fare that doesn't stick in your gut the way Plummer's work does."
In November, Scott explained to EW that leaving Spacey in the film was not an option.
"I sat and thought about it and realized, we cannot," he told EW. "You can't tolerate any kind of behavior like that. And it will affect the film. We cannot let one person's action affect the good work of all these other people. It's that simple."
Scott said that though Spacey never called him to apologize, it would not have made a difference, saying, "I'd have still done it."
Watch the trailer for the film below.
