Call Me By Your Name and All The Money In The World

Over the past two Wednesday evenings I have been catching up with friends from school for dinner and a movie. Last week Lynne, Gabby and I went to see Call Me By Your Name, which is based on the novel of the same name by Andre Aciman. Set over an Italian summer in the 1980s, it centers around 17 year old Elio (Timothee Chalamet) and his family, who take in an American grad student each summer to work with his archaeology professor father. On this occasion the person who comes to stay with them is 24 year old Oliver (Armie Hammer). Oliver has a more outgoing personality than Elio, who likes to read and focus on his music. In this coming of age story told from the point of view of Elio, he becomes more infatuated with Oliver as the summer progresses, and eventually they start a romantic relationship in the last weeks of Oliver's stay. The movie is very well done and shot in a beautiful location. The only problem I had was that the actors look like the age gap between them is much more than in the script, which was a bit distracting and could be perceived as slightly predatory in this day and age.

Tonight Lynne and I saw All The Money In The World, which is based on the true story of the kidnapping of 16 year old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) in Italy in 1973. As the grandson of the richest man in the world, J. Paul Getty (played by Christopher Plummer, who replaced Kevin Spacey in the role), the kidnappers assumed that they would get their ransom immediately, but Getty refused to pay it. The film mainly follows how Paul's mother Gail Harris (Michelle Williams) and Getty's adviser and ex-CIA operative Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) work to try and negotiate with the abductors around the ransom payment and get money from Getty in order to pay it and free Paul. It's definitely a good crime thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat at many points and in disbelief at the cruelty and greed displayed by J. Paul Getty even in regards to his own family.