Christopher Plummer is superb in ‘All the Money in the World’

Pervnado saved this movie.

When it was announced that accused harasserಞ Kevin Spacey would be totally cut out of “All the Money in the World” and hastily replaced by 88-year-old Christopher Plummer just weeks before its rꦓelease, disaster seemed certain.

But director Ridley Scott’s gutsy move has paid off, big-league. Public interest in the drama has skyrocketed, when it would’ve probably been swallowed up by a crowded holiday season. And Plummer’s last-minute performance is 𝄹smashing. In fact, the whole film is excellent.

“All the✨ Money” tells the true story of the 1973 Rome kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer, who is not related to Christopher). He was the 16-year-old grandson of the notoriously cruel oil tycoon J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), and was held hostage by thugs in Calabria for months while his grandpa stubbornly refused to paꦫy the $17 million ransom. That’s pocket lint for the elder Getty, who was worth $1.2 billion.

So, the task of rescuing the teen falls to his mom Gail (Michelle Williams), who was effectively booted from the Getty family after divorcing Paul’s strung-out dad, and Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), an ex-CIA age꧂nt who works for J. Paul Getty. G🐓ail desperately attempts to raise enough dough to get her son back, as Chase tries to track him down.

The engrossing movie cohesively lumps several genres together: 🌃some family drama here, a bit of thriller there and a generous dose of morality tale everywhere. The mix makes for an unusual biopic experience. It seems more like a seas🌠on finale of “Dallas” than a retelling of real-life events.

Plummer turned out to be the perfect choice to play the world’s chea♛pest billionaire. He’s a very difficult actor to dislike — how can the guy who sang “ꦓEdelweiss” be totally reprehensible? — which adds complexity to his outwardly icy character. You come away thinking that Getty really did love his grandson deep down, but inner demons kept him from showing it.

Occasio🔯nally, Getty’s di🔯alogue becomes a tad too Scrooge-y — you half expect a “bah humbug” or a villainous “mwa-ha-ha!” to drip from his frowning mouth — but Plummer’s natural ease and gravitas keeps the man believable.

But it’s not just the Christopher Plummer show.

We’ve seen Michelle Williams let loose explosive torrents of emotion in movies like “Manchester by the Sea.” Here, however, she brilliantly bottles up all of Gai🍷l’s hurt and fear, assuming an erudite, cold defense mechanism. The actress’ restraint is tense and very relatable.

As Paul Getty, the young Charlie Plummer has a tough task, too, getting steadily dirtier, skinnier and shakier as the days tick down. He forms a bond with one of his kidnappers, who clearly likes the boy and feels some remorse. Charlie doesn’t overdo it, and the emotional impact of the traumatic experience🧔 comes through. It has to. The real Paul Getty was so shattered, he nearly died of a drug overdose in 1981.

It’s a sad and fascinating chapter in American history, and one that makes you look differently at the le𝕴gacy of one of our country’s most famous industrialists.