Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Tag Archives: Ridley Scott


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My Review of ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

All the Money in the World, rated R
****

Christopher Plummer and Michelle Williams shine in this tense film inspired by the kidnapping and demands for ransom of J. Paul Getty’s grandson. The film, which has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, is directed by 80-year old four-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator). It is written by David Scarpa, based on John Pearson’s 1995 book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty. The film features a strong cast, but it is who is not in the film that is every bit as interesting as who is in the film.
Four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn), stars as Gail Harris. Williams has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance. Gail had been married to John Paul Getty II (Andrew Buchan, Broadchurch), the son of J. Paul Getty, played by Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners). Plummer has also been nominated for a Golden Globe award.
When John becomes desperate for a job, he reaches out to his father, who he really never knew, as his father focused on his business dealings, and is given a job in Rome, Italy. Unfortunately, John turns to drug and alcohol abuse and Gail decides to divorce him. In exchange for sole custody of the children, Gail agrees that she will not accept any money from the Getty family fortune.
In 1973, Gail’s son, John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer), who goes by Paul, is kidnapped by masked men and held for a ransom of $17 million. Gail has no money, and is forced to ask her former father-in-law to pay the ransom for his grandson. How J. Paul Getty, the richest man in the world at the time, responds to the ransom demands shows that he cares less about the torture and possible murder of his grandson than he does for his money and possessions. You’ll dislike J. Paul Getty’s character, but you’ll have to admit that Plummer delivers a strong, and perhaps an Oscar worthy performance.
Mark Wahlberg portrays Fletcher Chase, J. Paul Getty’s security advisor and ex-CIA operative. Getty instructs Chase to work with the police to find Paul so that he will not have to pay the ransom. Chase and Gail work closely together to try to get Paul home safely.
Oscar winner Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People) plays Oswald Hinge, J. Paul Getty’s chief attorney.  Romain Duris portrays Cinquanta, one of the kidnappers that shows kindness to Paul.
What is fascinating is that Christopher Plummer was not even supposed to be in this film. Instead, Kevin Spacey played the role of J. Paul Getty, in the film that was already finished when sexual abuse charges were first brought against him on October 29. On November 8, Scott decided to replace Spacey with 88-year-old Christopher Plummer, and he began to re-shoot key scenes on November 20, just over a month before the film was released on Christmas Day. In just nine days, twenty-two scenes were re-filmed at a cost of $10 million.
The film includes a significant amount of adult language and some graphic violence. Themes in the film include wealth, greed, drug abuse and family dysfunction.This is an extremely well-acted and directed film about the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty’s grandson and the surrounding family turmoil.
J. Paul Getty’s relentless, unfulfilled desire for money and possessions reminds me of two quotes:
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.” Blaise Pascal
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13


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Movie Review ~ The Martian, rated PG-13

The MartianThe Martian, rated PG-13
****

This incredible film is based on Andy Weir’s novel The Martian, which is adapted by screenwriter Drew Goddard, who wrote many episodes of the television series Lost. It is directed by legendary director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Thelma and Louise, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, Alien).

Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, a member of a six-person mission to Mars led by Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain). After a powerful wind storm hits, Watney is presumed dead and the crew has to leave him behind in order to survive. But amazingly Watney, the crew’s botanist, though badly injured, is still alive. Alone, he has to figure out how to communicate with earth and survive on Mars with minimal food and water supplies.

Watney begins a video journal where we see his humor comes through as we get to know him. We also see him using his skills as a botanist, and his ability to repair equipment as he has to depend on himself to survive. Note: while in the novel, Mark Watney has two Master’s degrees, one in botany and one in mechanical engineering, in the film, he has a PhD in botany and no engineering background is mentioned, though he is shown to have a knowledge of engineering and maintenance of the mission equipment.

Back on earth, NASA leaders, Director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor from 12 Years a Slave) discuss how to handle the situation, assuming that Whatley will not be able to survive on Mars. They also discuss whether or not to notify the crew of the Ares 3, who are on their long journey home, and the impact of leaving one of their crew members alive on Mars will have on them, especially Commander Lewis.

The film is basically about Watney stranded on Mars, trying to survive, while NASA tries to get him back home. Damon delivers the performance of his career surrounded by a strong cast. The special effects are amazing, especially the landscape of Mars, which was created through a combination of location filming (in Wadi Rum, Jordan, which has a red colored desert) and CGI (computer generated imagery). NASA was consulted while making the film in order to make the aspects of space and space travel, specifically in relation to Mars, as accurate as possible. The soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams, was powerful and effectively complements the film.

There is humor in the film (Damon’s dislike of the disco music that Lewis left, for example). There is mention of faith (one character asks another if he believes in God).   There is some adult language included and one non-sexual shot of nudity, used to show how much weight Watney has lost while stranded on Mars.

This film is well made, with strong performances, particularly by Damon, but also from the strong supporting cast (Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Daniels, Ejiofor, and Donald Glover). It is one of my favorite films of the year, second perhaps only to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation thus far.


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Movie Review ~ Exodus: Gods and Kings

ExodusExodus: Gods and Kings, rated PG-13
** ½

How I look at this film has a lot to do with my expectations of it. The director of the film, the acclaimed Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma and Louise, all of which he received Oscar nominations for) is an outspoken atheist. So I was certainly not expecting his portrayal of the Exodus story to be biblically accurate. On top of that, Christian Bale’s recent quote about Moses “I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life,” didn’t give me much confidence about how Moses would be portrayed. And much like Darren Aronofsky’s Noah from earlier this year, those expectations were met. Given that, how are believers to look at this film? We could choose to stay away from it, or we could see the film and then critically engage with it, knowing that it is not going to be biblically accurate.

First, what I did find was in many ways a well-made and entertaining Hollywood film with a strong cast, including Christian Bale as Moses and the always outstanding Ben Kingsley as Nun. We also see some outstanding special effects, especially around the plagues and the Red Sea scene (more of a low tide than a parting) that only a big budget film ($140 million) can provide. The overall story of the Exodus is in the film, which I would describe as being loosely based on the biblical account. The primary storyline of the film is not necessarily the exodus, but the relationship between Moses, who the Pharaoh Seti (John Turturro) raised as his adopted son, and his own biological son Ramses (Joel Edgerton).

What you may hear about, and also what most concerned me about the film is how our sovereign God was portrayed, beginning with the burning bush scene. In what reminded me of how God is portrayed as a large African American woman in The Shack by William P. Young, God (he is credited as Malak, a Semitic word for angel), is portrayed as a preteen British boy, played by 11 year old Isaac Andrews. Is Malak a messenger, or is he God? He either is God or speaks directly for Him. When asked who he is he responds “I AM”. The character, and thus God, is portrayed as “a self-centered brat” (Gabe Hughes’ review), “a petulant, willful child” (Paul Asay’ review), or as “an impish British schoolboy” (Christy Lemire’s review). Moses and Malak are portrayed as having a contentious relationship throughout the film.

At two and a half hours, the film is much shorter than Cecile B. DeMille’s four hour The Ten Commandments from 1956. As such, the film focuses on the events in the story at the expense of character development. The costumes, jewelry, architecture, etc. that Scott uses in the film were quite good. Scott dedicates the film to his late brother and fellow filmmaker Tony, who committed suicide in 2012.