After Kevin Spacey was spat out by the Hollywood Predator Advent Calendar (TM Lainey), Ridley Scott decided to remove him entirely from All the Money in the World and replace him with Christopher Plummer. That was a good decision but also totally bonkers, as the movie was set to come out in six weeks. Well, now the movie comes out in three weeks, and we have a trailer for the Christopher Plummer version of the movie. You know what? It looks better. Maybe every movie should replace one actor with Christopher Plummer for an immediate upgrade.
It also does not look like an Oscar-caliber film. Plummer, in the brief bits he’s visible, looks great as J. Paul Getty—much better than Spacey’s rubbery makeup mask. And Michelle Williams is always good when playing vulnerable, nervous people. But there is a strong emphasis on action, so much so that this looks like a grown-up alternative to Star Wars during the holiday season. I’m never in a million years going to get my parents into The Last Jedi, but I can probably sell them on this.
Back in the summer, before We Knew What We Now Know, I wrote about some set photos from Money, “It’s strange they’re doing this as a thriller, though, since the resolution to the kidnapping was relatively anti-climactic […] how much do you want to bet that there will be some kind of heroic action sequence made up for the movie?” Based on this trailer, they made up a LOT. So much so that the title card reads “Inspired by true events”. Not “based on”. INSPIRED BY. There is an actual difference between using “based on” and “inspired by”, and it has to do with how much bullsh*t you’ve injected into the story. Going by this trailer, Scott & Co. have injected so much bullsh*t they had to downgrade to “inspired by”. That’s okay, though, because it still looks like a good movie, and I am here for Christopher Plummer growling, “More.” I’m trying to imagine Kevin Spacey delivering that line. I’m sure it was okay, but having seen Plummer do it, it’s hard to remember this wasn’t his role all along.
