All the Money in the World

Ridley Scott directs this entertaining but uneven true-life drama about the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, a situation that dragged on for months when the teenager’s billionaire grandfather refused to pay his ransom.  All the Money in the World is impeccably mounted but dramatically disjointed, a production design triumph with a shortage of substance, and only strong performances keep the film from falling apart.  By this point, the onscreen story of  All the Money in the World  has been overshadowed by the offscreen drama, which saw disgraced actor Kevin Spacey’s scenes as the elder J. Paul Getty hastily reshot with Christopher Plummer.  If only Plummer could have also replaced Mark Wahlberg as Fletcher Davis, the ex-CIA agent and Getty employee who oversaw the ransom negotiations.  It feels like a functional supporting role got beefed up to attract a star, which only distracts attention from the characters that really matter.