Globe choices send message
Director’s efforts to replace actor Spacey seen as right move
When the Golden Globes nominations were announced Monday morning, one surprising title kept popping up: All the Money in the World, which received three nods — for best director, best actress and best supporting actor.
It’s not that the movie doesn’t have an excellent pedigree and a star-studded cast. Four-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott directed the film, which revisits the real-life saga of John Paul Getty III’s 1973 kidnapping. But the movie has been most buzz-worthy because portions of it were very recently reshot. After actor Anthony Rapp and others alleged that Kevin Spacey sexually harassed or abused them, Scott recast the actor’s role as billionaire tycoon J. Paul Getty — the grandfather of the kidnapped teen — even though the movie was already essentially finished. Instead of Spacey, viewers will see another Oscar winner, Canadian Christopher Plummer.
Scott reshot Spacey’s scenes from Nov. 20 to 29 while simultaneously editing those bits into the finished movie.
He was convinced he would still have the drama ready for its scheduled Dec. 22 release. In the end, he had to push things back, but only a bit — the movie is to be released on Dec. 25.
That’s important for awards purposes: He needed to have the movie finished in time for a 2017 release to be considered for this season’s trophies.
Still, it’s amazing that a movie that finished shooting less than two weeks ago is up for three Golden Globes, including nods for Scott, Plummer and his co-star Michelle Williams. Apparently, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association members got rush copies of the finished product. On social media, some wondered if HFPA members were just rubbing it in about getting a sneak preview.
Still others questioned whether the voters actually saw the film.
What’s clear is that the buzz around Scott’s choice to tear up his movie was great for generating interest. Had he not, would he have edged out other directors such as Dee Rees (Mudbound), Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) or Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name)?
“You can’t tolerate any kind of behaviour like that,” Scott told Entertainment Weekly, drawing a line in the sand. “We cannot let one person’s action affect the good work of all these other people. It’s that simple.”
By nominating both the director and Plummer for awards, the HFPA also sent its own message — intentionally or not — that the director’s decision was the right one.