In Theaters: December 29, 2017

This time there is only one new wide release.

All the Money in the World (Monday release)

just ignore that name in the middle

Ridley Scott's second movie this year stars Michelle Williams, Kevin Spacey Christopher Plummer, and Mark Wahlberg.  Sony wants it to be an oscar contender for Spacey Plummer.  The film is based on the true story of the kidnapping and ransom of John Paul Getty III, grandson to J. Paul Getty (Spacey Plummer), the wealthiest man to have ever lived (as of the film's setting in the 70's).

The story of this film does look very interesting to me, even though I could've gone on Wikipedia and learned about the real ending a long time ago.  Some of Ridley Scott's best work is found in his non-epic and non-sci-fi pieces.  And it's a very strong cast, including Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg, and not Kevin Spacey.

This brings us to the cultural significance of this film.  Having Kevin Spacey not be in your movie usually isn't enough to make it historically of interest, but let me tell you a story.

You are probably familiar with what has been happening in Hollywood the last three months.  After Harvey Weinstein went down, several other notable filmmakers followed, including Kevin Spacey.  Spacey was outed on October 29th.  The trailer release and oscar campaign for All the Money in the World began on September 14th.  The movie had already been completed - with Spacey as J. Paul Getty.

Sony and Ridley Scott (especially Ridley Scott, reports suggest) were furious that Kevin Spacey's reputation would inevitably ruin their film.  Something had to be done.

Ridley Scott proposed something radical and unprecedented to Sony.  He wanted reshoots for the film to entirely replace Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer.  He would do this with real sets, real locations, and real co-stars.  And he would finish the new footage and complete the new edit of the film in time for the December 22nd release date.  This plan was announced on November 8th, reshoots began on November 20th, and the film was released - as planned - on December 22nd.  Ridley Scott had done it.  Amazing.

There are some notable things I want to add here.  Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg agreed to do these reshoots for free, which is very professional of them, and shows dedication to the project.  And Ridley Scott actually has quite the reputation for completing his films on budget and on time.  In other industries that is obviously the expectation, but most film directors regularly go over time and budget.  He also celebrated his EIGHTIETH birthday the day after these reshoots were completed.  The man is an animal.

Anyway the movie looks pretty good.  I would definitely go see it if it wasn't rated R.  Here's a poster that Sony would actually want you to see now.

you don't have to ignore the name in the middle anymore

All the Money in the World is rated R for language, some violence, disturbing images and brief drug content.

      Big Shot Critic