The film that gained a lot of complicated publicity due to the controversy prompting a last minute recasting has arrived on our screens a mere couple of months since the Spacey sexual assault allegations surfaced. The result is not the mess that could have resulted from a huge, quick reshoot, but a solid thriller-drama where any alterations and additions have been practically seamlessly stitched into the rest of the piece.

Based on the true story, the film chronicles the kidnapping of teenager John Paull Getty III (Charlie Plummer), the grandson of oil tycoon, and richest man in history, John Paul Getty Sr. (Christopher Plummer, no relation), and subsequent ransom demands. It falls to Gail (Michelle Williams), Getty III’s mother to try as hard as possible to convince Getty Sr. to pay the money, yet he refuses, citing how he values money, the fact he has ‘none to spare’, and the possible prompting of further kidnappings if he were to do so. Getty’s advisor, Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), is sent to Rome where Getty III was kidnapped to be with Gail, with whom he begins to side.

The film begins with Getty III’s kidnapping, but then spends its first act flitting between time periods. We are given flashbacks to characters meeting, and come to understand the foundations of their relationships better, which add depth to the changes that are present in the main time frame of the film. The film also begins to develop our understanding of each character’s psychology and what has shaped them. The flitting back and forth is very effective, allowing information to sink and the effects of it be seen in the modern (1973).

The film takes such a story and begins to untangle the moral complexities at the heart of it, namely the different things upon which people place value, and the value of money itself. Most of this is explored through Getty Sr.’s character, who, as the richest man ever, is in the unique position where money should be no object, but to him it is. It is Christopher Plummer’s incredibly layered and strong performance that really brings this to the fore, but without overly playing it. It is a performance that lives in its subtlety, bypassing the easy one-note villain Getty Sr. could have been (and it is testament to the film as well that this is not the case), and Christopher Plummer’s startlingly pulled-together portrayal, you would never know that he had just mere days to prepare, helps to really elevate the material.

There is solid acting all around. Williams is excellent as the kidnapped boy’s mother, ensuring her character remains grounded and strong, and doesn’t descend into a helpless heap. Instead, she capitalizes on the strength of the motherly instinct which essentially sends her into proxy survival mode that ensures she keeps a level head. Wahlberg is good too, he brings some layering to the little he is given, but his character isn’t given much to show dimension or develop his personality. Charlie Plummer is also entirely convincing, as are the rest of the ensemble. The cast and the film work well to ensure that what occurs on screen never descends into melodrama or loses a sense of credibility, and the film is all the more stronger for it.

The film takes a while to get going, but once it does it is a solid ride that, despite being fairly predictable at times, keeps you invested in the piece, even if it isn’t fully absorbing. It doesn’t always grip in the ways it feels like it should; there is a lack of urgency in the pacing meaning that the high stakes of the situation aren’t always felt to the full extent. This causes a sense of detachment at times, as the film doesn’t fully pull you in. Part of this may also be due to the colouring of the film and the occasional obvious CGI (entirely forgivable in the one notable use in a Getty Sr. scene), which lends a feeling of artificiality to certain parts.

It is hard to ignore the scandal surrounding the film. The insertion of Christopher Plummer is done seamlessly, and the film doesn’t feel uneven or disjointed for it at all – a true testament to Ridley Scott and his team for pulling it together in such an incredibly short space of time. Purely the fact that the sexual assault allegations are so fresh, and the fact that the issues in general have (importantly) taken such a prominent place in the ether and current zeitgeist, might be enough to distract from the film slightly. Perhaps a viewing of the film with a greater distance from the behind-the-scenes situation would prove more fruitful and absorbing. The filmmakers have done all they can perfectly to remedy the situation, but the viewing experience may still suffer as a casualty of the horrendous allegations.

The result is a very well made film and an entertaining one. Perhaps experiences of the film will be different and better when the shadow over it isn’t looming quite so large and close, but this is a solid thriller-drama, that has pulled off an impressive rescue effort of its own.