Christopher Plummer saves 'All the Money in the World'

Christpher Plummer could have gone down in history as the 'guy who played the dad in The Sound of Music' and perhaps for less discerning movie viewers he may still. But for hardcore film fans like me he has had one of the most remarkable late career runs of any actor in memory, emerging as one of the great go-to character actors of all time.

And at 88 years old, he's still got it. In fact, he is probably the most interesting facet of Ridley Scott's new prestige thriller All the Money In the World, which is ironic considering the fact that he was a last minute filler for the disgraced Kevin Spacey.

The movie has a great hook. Based on the true story of the kidnapping of a potential heir to the J. Paul Getty fortune, it reveals that Getty himself was an absurd, Mr. Burns-style miser who totally balks at paying his grandson's ransom.

In the first trailer for the film, which played up the drama rather than the action, Getty was played by an almost unrecognizable (save for his signature sneer of a voice) Spacey, but after a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations buried him, Scott famously rushed reshoots with Plummer in the role. Having seen the movie now, not only is the switch relatively seamless but it seems like the movie's one great masterstroke.

Spacey, as fine an actor as he is, is simply not right for this part and would have been delivering a purely campy kabuki-type performance. Plummer, with his extremely weathered and frail countenance, just embodies Getty and does so with a minimum of pomp and circumstance.

Even when he delivers some particularly silly dialogue or is asked to reveal some new depth to Getty's particularly nitpicky form of greed, Plummer sells it in the most delightful, sincere way.

The movie surrounding him is an attractive, sumptuous one -- I don't think Ridley Scott is capable of making an ugly film -- and the plot does have an intriguing ticking clock element to it.

I particularly like how scenes of the captivity are played out; Scott has a great eye for the characters on the periphery that feel authentic.

I think it's the central characters of the film that keep it from fully connecting. Michelle Williams plays the boy's mother in an eccentric, overly twitchy performance that really didn't work for me. Williams is usually such a believable, accessible actress that seeing her attempt an arch accent and don '70s hair felt wrong to me. Also, for a character who repeatedly declares she's broke she manages to travel constantly, wear designer clothes and never work.

Mark Wahlberg is an even bigger problem, although I don't think it's his fault. He has just reached that level of stardom where he needs a role tailored to his strengths. He can no longer disappear into a character. He is a big screen tough guy. This makes the character he's playing -- which is ostensibly supposed to be a oily CIA trained operator functioning as go-between for Getty and his estranged daughter-in-law -- feel like an odd choice for him.

You never watch Wahlberg and wonder "is he going to be a good guy?", "is he going to make the right choices?" You put Jon Hamm in that part, you don't know if you can trust him. But with Wahlberg, you know he's going to stick it to the villain eventually, and (spoiler alert) he does.

Still, for what it is, the movie is entertaining and well-crafted if not all that memorable, but the character that still sticks with me is Plummer's Getty. It probably won't make it to the Oscar conversation -- as per usual that category is stacked with strong competition.  But it is really a testament to Plummer's skill and professionalism that he stepped into this part, under these circumstances, and made it his own.