The Getty Saga, Again
Danny Boyle Directs FX's crime story, Trust
The 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III (above) was recently dramatized in the awards-season darling, All the Money in the World. That film made headlines when director Ridley Scott fired Kevin Spacey from the completed film and replaced him with Christopher Plummer, but it’s not the only filmed dramatization of the Getty Kidnapping…
Danny Boyle (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire) is directing Trust on the FX network, which uses the television medium to tell the story of the young Getty’s kidnapping and the elder Getty’s coldly frugal negotiating skills. The series is written by Simon Beaufoy, who is best known for films like The Full Monty and The Battle of the Sexes, as well as his collaborations with Boyle.
The series stars Donald Sutherland as John Paul Getty, bringing forward a more patriarchal foreboding to the character than Christopher Plummer’s more cunning, intimately duplicitous interpretation of the controversial historical figure. Hillary Swank is Gail Getty (the Michelle Williams role in the film), while Brendan Frasier plays Fletcher Chase, the character Marky Mark played in the film. Finally, Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats) is aiming to break out with his role as the in-over-his-head J. Paul Getty III.
It’s curious that Trust is releasing so soon after All the Money in the World, and it’s unfortunate that the series will always be compared to the film and audiences will be hard-pressed to examine the show on its own merits. If they do, however, then they’ll hopefully be pleasantly surprised by the work put in by Boyle and Beaufoy, as well as the talented cast assembled for the series.
Trust debuts March 25 on FX.
