“All The Money In The World” (2017)
Honestly, the public scandal that surrounded the production of “All The Money In The World,” Scott’s competent, dramatically airless re-telling of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, is more interesting to talk about than the film is to watch. This iffy, airbrushed period thriller, which stars Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams, sees Scott drifting, more or less in cruise-control mode, although we do give the legendary director all the credit in the world (see what we did there?) for re-shooting the critical scenes with Kevin Spacey’s J. Paul Getty (for those who’ve forgotten, Spacey was effectively #MeToo’d for good shortly before this film’s awards season premiere) with the late, great Christopher Plummer subbing in like the consummate pro that he was (frankly, Plummer brought more gravitas to this tricky part than Spacey ever could have hoped to). “All The Money” is a fine, fitfully absorbing true crime drama, but if we’re being honest, it’s also the kind of movie that Scott could probably make in his sleep. [C+] – NL
“The Last Duel” (2021)
Scott returned to swaggering period filmmaking with this sumptuous, arresting adaptation of Eric Jager’s historical text, which documents an infamous dispute between the penniless knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon, hair sculpted in the style of a Metallica roadie), and his womanizing squire-in-arms, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver, playing a squirrelly cross between his “Girls” scumbag and Vincent Price), the latter accused of the rape of Carrouges’ wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer, exquisitely capturing the spirit of a woman who has learned to suffer quietly so as to not disturb the egos of powerful men). This is rapturous material, and Scott honors it every step of the way, intentionally scrambling the film’s chronology, “Rashomon”-style, to drive home unsettling points about the malleability of truth (Ben Affleck steals the show as a debauched royal count with platinum-blonde boy band hair and a somewhat narcotized air about him). “The Last Duel” is easily the most entertaining movie Scott has made in over a decade: a rousing, enormous, disquieting and darkly funny prestige potboiler. It’s as if the prolific director is quoting one of his earlier, more widely beloved epics to us, bellowing to a crowd that’s starved for authentic widescreen spectacle, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?” Yes, Ridley. Yes, we are. [A-] – NL
“House Of Gucci” (2021)
Here’s an excerpt from our review: Narratively garbled and morally muddy, [‘House Of Gucci’] is instead a work of loose delights: pastel-pink jackets, a peppy playlist thick with disco, the odd instance of spite-urination, a hilariously stilted sit-down to plot a murder. These assorted pleasures don’t cohere into much beyond set-dressing for Lady Gaga’s sexed-up monster-movie gravitas, drifting from vamp to vampire. Considered as a star-text alone, the film is functionally enjoyable (and will inspire Halloween costumes for the next fifty years), but it’s hard to accept lowered expectations with Scott having delivered a more accomplished, fully-honed film a few brief weeks ago. Caught between the half-willingness to be in on its own joke and the aspiration to seriousness, Scott breaks the cardinal rule of fashion: however you dress, make sure everyone can see exactly what you were going for. [C+] – Charles Bramesco
Original feature by — Jessica Kiang, Oli Lyttelton, Rodrigo Perez & Kevin Jagernauth
