4/5 stars

The film is a fictionalised retelling of the kidnapping of Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III by Italian gangsters, and succeeds as a solid piece of filmmaking in Scott’s usual craftsmanlike style: effective, periodically exciting, but extremely prosaic.

The story, which is based on an account written by John Pearson, sticks vaguely to the facts of the kidnapping. Young John Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is snatched from the streets of Rome by Italian criminals, who quickly issue a US$17 million ransom demand to his mother, Gail (Michelle Williams).

The problem is that Gail doesn’t have any money – she’d given up any claim to the Getty fortune in return for child custody when she divorced J. Paul Getty’s son, who suffered from addiction issues. Gail asks John Paul Getty to pay the ransom, but he refuses on the grounds that payment will encourage kidnappers to snatch his other grandchildren.

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Aided by Getty’s sympathetic security chief Chase (Mark Wahlberg), Gail tries to work out a deal involving J. Paul Getty, the kidnappers, and the Italian police.

To turn the story into an effective thriller, Scott has taken many liberties with the facts. For instance, Chase, who acts heroically in the film, was an ineffective agent in real life; J. Paul Getty did not die just after the kidnapping incident; and the dramatic pursuit that serves as the film’s climax did not occur. All the Money in the World is entertaining, but viewers should be aware that it’s no history lesson.