7/10 Ridley Scott is one of my all-time favorite directors and knowing that he reshot large chunks of the film in just 9 days about a month before the film’s release date makes his direction in this film all the more impressive. Christopher Plummer, at age 88, had little time to memorize all of his lines and had to work long hours over those 9 days of shooting to replace Kevin Spacey. Amazingly he gives the best performance in the film and earns his Best Supporting Actor nomination. The acting overall is very well done in this movie and it is nice to see Mark Wahlberg in a good movie for a change (after being in probably the worst film of the year with the latest “Transformers” fiasco). The story is an interesting one and I am always a fan of true stories that I don’t know much about. The recreation of the time period is expertly crafted with a great production and costume design team. The pacing moves along at a solid pace too, which has you staying interested the whole time. That being said, the score was very forgettable and when the movie ended, I felt a little underwhelmed. I expected more of a punch to it. Maybe some more commentary on the greed of J. Paul Getty. They did develop his character well and you do get to know him but it would have been nice to see how his greed negatively impacted everything around him, not just his family. There are only a couple intense moments in the film and the rest is certainly passable but doesn’t exactly stand out. The script is well written but, like the overall film, nothing super spectacular or memorable. Perhaps the controversy surrounding the film and Kevin Spacey simply overshadowed the actual quality of the film a little bit. This is certainly a film worth seeing but could probably be skipped in theaters and watched at home once it comes out. This movie is certainly good but didn’t quite live up to the high standards Ridley Scott has set for himself as one of today’s best film directors.
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