"All The Money in the World" doesn't guarantee a good seat

I realized "All the Money in the World" was about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III in 1973 in Rome, Italy and had to see it. I lived in Rome earlier that year. Those were the days of hippies, revolution and street demonstrations. Rome had all of that along with its ancient sites, charming plazas and  colorful neighborhoods; the Colosseum, Piazza Navona and the Trastevere were some of my favorites.

I made it to the cinema on Christmas day, the first day of the film's release.

The news that Christopher Plummer had replaced Kevin Spacey in the role of billionaire patriarch John Paul Getty peaked my interest even further. Plummer looked good in the previews. The NY Times said he dominated the film-- not bad for an 88 year old actor!

More intrigue... the reason Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey was the sexual scandal brewing around the star of "House of Cards". Careers die fast in the electronic world.  Director Scott didn't want Spacey's alleged sexual misconduct to intrude on the viewing experience. Scott re-shot Spacey's scene with Christopher Plummer in a mere 11 days. Pretty nimble response.

Ridley Scott, age 80, and Christopher Plummer may or may not get Oscar nominations. The men deserve to share this year's Outstanding Senior Citizen Cinematic award for achievement by an octogenarian in a major Hollywood motion picture.

Went to see the film at one of the deluxe theater chains-- this one called iPic Theaters. Their tagline is "the ultimate theater experience." The Austin iPic is located in the Domain Shopping Center-- a successful shopping mall with the contemporary mix of retail and residential buildings. We paid $14.00 per seat for our inferior category seats. The super premium seats were sold out. Or so we were led to believe.

The iPic is setup for more than movie viewing-- there's decent food, a high-toned bar and even some pool tables. And the crowd on Christmas night was a nice mix of well-heeled folks in a festive holiday mood. My wife ordered the Tandoori chicken skewers and we settled into our seats.

Unfortunately our seats were in the very first row! Our noses seemed pressed very close to the movie screen. We looked back at the theater, full of plush leather chairs and noticed many unfilled seats. Why had we been limited to the first row, we wondered. Turns out you can reserve a  movie ticket and then not show up to see the film. iPic's computer system is not nimble enough to indicate which seats are truly available. So we had the worst seats in the house. The Tandoori chicken was passable.

"All the Money in the World" earns a thumbs up. Plummer as John Paul Getty is a high point, along with Mark Wahlberg, as Getty's hired security man. The Italian vibe, complete with Mafioso participants in the kidnapping, is nicely done. Not sure if the film presentation is all quite factual....?

Read  John Pearson’s 1995 book “Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty” to get the full story.

The iPic claim of the "ultimate theater experience" didn't hold up this time-- but I liked the experience enough to go back. Next time we will reserve seats a little further back.

Recommended: 
For residents and visitors in Los Angeles-- look into a visit to the Getty Roman Villa in Malibu, California. Amazingly, John Paul Getty had his facsimile of an ancient Roman villa designed and built without setting foot in California for the construction. The project is referenced towards the end of the film.