Pretty Good

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Let me get this out of the way first, the story does get in the way of me enjoying the movie. A billionaire who can't afford to pay for his favorite grandson's ransom, makes sense when considering they could go after the other dozen or so grandkids he has. In that respect it makes sense. The first amount he agrees to actually pay ends up being the amount that is tax deductible...sounds like Shylock asking for his pound of flesh. Later paying the 4 or so million after being threatened by his liaison/security man. I admit Williams did a solid performance as the mother, Plummer plays a convincing Scrooge type character, Mark Wahlberg perhaps is a bit bland or out of place enough to not have a clue how to portray the role. The later is understandable considering his character felt out of place in relation to the movie, so I don't blame him for his lack of any scene chemistry. The kidnappers started out fine, take the kid to secure location, don't give him any details of where he is. So far nothing wrong. Soon enough the kidnappers are lowering their price after months and everything seems to be poorly managed. For 17 million I would expect better organizational and planning skills, combined with a better watchful eye on the bait who seems capable of pulling a MacGyver. In the credits they mention the plot and sequence of events was altered to better suit the movie. It seemed all over the place. There remained elements that could have been added and quite a few that could have been easily left out of the script. While technically not a change of plot, I believe adding Christopher Plummer as old man tight wallet was a better fit for the role than Kevin Spacey. No offence to Spacey's acting, but Plummer in my opinion suits the character more. The change being done initially for the sake of Spacey's allegations was also a great choice for a mainstream movie to say no to actors who have checkered pasts due to allegations. Whether those allegations prove true or not is a whole other can of worms. As much praise as I give the studio for having gotten rid of Spacey, I don't consider carrying that sentiment over toward the movie. In all the movie seemed chaotic, and having only 2 characters carrying the movie alone is not enough. Could have used more emotion, more dramatic effect. I felt as if the kidnapping could have used more elements of terror. Given 3 stars seems more than a fair pound of flesh.

1- On 29th May 1933 an oil concession agreement is signed between Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil Company of California (Socal). 2- May 1939 the first export of crude oil out of Saudi Arabia.

It's 1973. One night, 16 year old John Paul Getty III is kidnapped off the streets of Rome. The kidnappers want $17 million. His mother Gail (Michelle Williams) has nothing. Her ex-husband is a drug addict but it's ex-father-in-law, Jean Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), who is the richest man in the world. JPG is a ruthless oil baron and a penny pinching miser. He puts his fixer Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) on the case.This movie will always be more known for the controversy from Kevin Spacey as the original JPG. It's not a bad movie but it's not good enough to overtake the behind-the-scene scandal. Quite frankly, Christopher Plummer is a better choice for the role. He needs to be a Scrooge, powerful without the anger. Spacey would probably take it too far. Michelle Williams does solid work as always. She's that good. On the other hand, Wahlberg continues to insists on being the hero of piece which is very annoying. He takes it too far. In one scene, he confronts Getty and I actually felt bad for the bastard. He diminishes the picture. I also note that there is TV show about the same historical drama and I really like that show. This is solid work but the history of this movie will always start with the scandal.

I hated this film. Michelle Williams butchered it. She was awful. It was hard to get through for me. It was boring and doesn't keep your attention. The kid was also stupid. Just bad acting I thought.