WhenRidley Scottwas forced to recut his latest movie,All the Money in the World, to exciseKevin Spaceyin lieu ofChristopher Plummer, he did so quickly and efficiently. Directors whose perspective, style, and taste in subject matter are seemingly the exact opposite of Scott’s, includingAva DuVernay, came out of the woodwork to stare agape at his ability to get the work done. It’s hard to argue this fact in light of these stories about the reshoots but anyone who has kept an eye on Scott’s movies over the years would likely find this an obvious compliment, like tellingChristina AguileraorArianna Grandethat they have a nice voice.
Scott’s technical powers as a filmmaker have never been in question.The Duellists, his debut film, proved that right off the bat and for whatever your issues with their scripts, there is a similar sense of control inAlien: CovenantandAll the Money in the World. That his ambitions beyond his technical knowledge have fluctuated over the years is reflective of his fascination with the duel nature of ambition and success. At the heart of many of his stories is the struggle between the precarious nature of risking cohesion for possible greatness and remaining steady and predictable at the risk of growing outdated. His taste in scripts and glowing reputation amongst the big studios has kept him relevant, thankfully, and yet every movie he makes shows a hint of a wilder beast lurking beneath. That’s the David storyline inAlien: Covenant, or Christopher Plummer’s performance inAll the Money in the World, orTim Curry’s scenes inLegend. He’s likeSteven Spielbergin that way, an accomplished and influential artist who clearly still has the itch for adventure and the unknown yet is tethered to the comforts and connections that his life affords.
WithAll the Money in the Worldopening this weekend, I thought I’d rank Scott’s films fromThe Duelliststo his two 2017 efforts. Enjoy!
24) ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’
Scott has always had a want to be the nextDavid Leanand though there’s plenty to love and learn from in Lean’s filmography, it’s when Scott has followed this particular desire that he has often put out his worst work. At 150 minutes, this retelling of the legend of Ramses and Moses (Joel EdgertonandChristian Bale) has nothing but the scope of its imagery going for it. The story is familiar and the team of writers that produced the script, includingSteven Zaillian, doesn’t do much of anything to break out the characters in any moving or interesting way. The effects look expensive but feel emotionally and physically weightless within the narrative, the result of which is that the biblical story’s biggest scenes come off as unimportant and empty action set-pieces. Really, the risible whitewashing that went on here, the kind that tries to pass Bruce Wayne off as an iconic and holy Egyptian, is the least of the issues with this mess.
23) ‘Robin Hood’
The longest motion picture ever made. Okay, not really, but holy hot jesus, it feels like it. Here,Russell Crowetakes on the role of the rebellious royal who helps Little John and must fight of the nefarious Sheriff of Nottingham. Other events transpire – I seem to rememberCate Blanchettas Maid Marian – but neither Scott nor writerBrian Helgelandlabor to make any of what happens amongst the outlaws or the aristocrats compelling. Visually, there’s nothing sweeping or nuanced, neither beautiful nor reflective about how Scott shoots the world ofRobin Hoodand he strives for grim realism rather than building up a sense of wonder or inspiration. At that point, even if Scott and Helgeland had a unique take on the character, who could possibly care to stick around and find out about it?
22) ‘A Good Year’
It’s nice when Scott steps away from life-and-death stakes but ifA Good Yearis any indication, he might need those stakes to really get himself engaged with the material. This is to say that Scott’s follow-up toKingdom of Heavenis a definitive slog and arguably the whitest film to ever be released stateside. Scott pairs once again with leading manRussell Crowe, who plays Max Skinner, an investment banker living in London who inherits his uncle’s chateau and vineyard in France, a place he adored as a child. His attempt to renovate the land and house for sale allows him to get into the leisurely mood of the local townfolk, and he falls hard for Fanny (Marion Cotillard), a café owner, while also dealing with a daughter (Abbie Cornish) that he never knew he had. That’s the great struggle of Max Skinner’s life: a high-paying, demanding job with a great apartment in a fashionable district of London and an inherited French chateau with a promising vineyard and a beautiful girlfriend who runs her own business. It’s easier to care about the vulnerable side of Hannibal Lecter than it is to care about all of this, and Scott doesn’t do much more than make the surroundings look half as appealing as they actually are in reality. It’s a white noise machine with pictures.
21) ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’
Ridley Scott makes very long movies. Most of them – perhaps all of them – are over two hours, which translates into a lot of downtime depending on the script and the subject matter he’s tackling. In the case of 1492, the focus is on Christopher Columbus (Gerard Depardieu) and his adventure to find the world that would come to be known as the United States of America. The imagery, courtesy ofAdrian Biddle, is alluring but rarely acts as anything but a delivery device for what’s in the script or, more accurately, the engine of the plot. Mind you, the plot doesn’t have much to say about the fact that Columbus was a graceless butcher who founded America for his own ego and liberation from a society he deemed unworthy of his aspirations. It’s not all sunshine and lollipops either but for an epic consideration of the foreign man who arrived on America’s shores for the first time, Scott’s follow-up to the far superiorThelma & Louisemakes the act of discovery feel about as thrilling as an honors history class.
20) ‘Legend’
After I first saw this, all I could remember really was Tim Curry’s horned devil, a miraculously malevolent image if there ever was one. Well, okay, there’s another scene. Early on, as a bunch of nefarious creatures and trolls are roaming the land, one suggests that they turn everything around them into garbage. They honestly might as well have done that for all that I can remember about what happens when Curry’s villain isn’t on screen.Tom Cruiseplays a dashing hero, that I remember, and he’s helping a girl – I got that from the cover. Before I get fans of this movie really roiling, yes, I revisited the film before writing this, but it has no bearing on how little of an impression this movie makes. 3 days after rewatching it, it’s still difficult to remember anything aside from the hulking red colossus and that speaks to just how forgettable this movie is on the whole.
19) ‘Kingdom of Heaven’
Remember what I said about Scott and hisDavid Leanthing? This is where it comes back again, slightly improved yet still unwavering in its mediocrity. The whitewashing is still an issue here, but the story is thankfully much more involving and colored with perverse, dark nuances inWilliam Monahan’s script. This begins withEdward Norton’s vocal work as the diseased Christian King Baldwin, who reigns in Jerusalem between the third and fourth Crusades in the name of peace. He’s isolated in this belief, for the most part, but he finds kin in Balian (Orlando Bloom) and his knight of a father, Godfrey de Ibelin (Liam Neeson). The cast, which also includesMarton Csokas, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, andEva Green, gives the impressive set & production design and well-researched vernacular a pulse, which is more than what can be said about the ideas about religion, warfare, and class that Scott largely leaves unexplored. If you don’t pay much attention to it, however, it goes down pretty smoothly.
18) ‘Hannibal’
Scott does his best when horror elements are involved. It’s what madeAlien: Covenantinto the best volume in the franchise sinceAliensand its what madeThe Counselor’s vision of the modern drug trade so hard to shake. It’s also what makes Hannibal such a minor yet resilient delight. It helps thatAnthony Hopkinsreturned to play Dr. Hannibal Lecter to add ample bite (forgive me) to the proceedings, and the gothic Italian settings don’t hurt either. What Scott (and Hopkins) miss here is a sense of inner life, a more thorough understanding of who he is beyond his diet and taste for highbrow culture. With a better script and a bit more ambition, the character of Hannibal would be a perfect fit in Scott’s often skeptical, career-long fascination with the difference between work and passion, between art and entertainment, between duty and desire. As it stands, however,Hannibalis an amiable, ridiculous, and beautifully paced joyride for those (like this writer) who had been in need of a second helping of Lecter in the years followingThe Silence of the Lambs.
17) ‘Gladiator’
This is one of those movies where the majority of the fanbase has, separate from the movie itself, tempered my enthusiasm for the movie, but hasn’t destroyed it. Of course, it is a little difficult to take a movie that takes itself so seriously all that seriously to begin with, but that’s not to say the movie has nothing to offer as a thoughtful entertainment. The fact thatRussell Croweis so compelling in the role of Maximus, the former military leader turned gladiator and slave after the murder of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), gives the film ample fuel, alongside sensational supporting turns by Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed, Connie Nielsen, andDavid Hemmings. DPJohn Mathieson, who recently lensedLoganandKing Arthur: Legend of the Sword, gives grand special scope to the world where Maximus fights for glory, but it’s the price of that glory that holds upGladiator. Scott’s interest with the politics of the time is no deeper than rich vs. poor, and he has a natural, unchallenged fondness for honor won through bloodshed. Some of this is inherent in the script, a dull and uncurious narrative put together byJohn Logan, David Franzoni, andWilliam Nicholson, but Scott is not absent from the blame here. That this also happens to be the favorite movie and ode to masculinity of noted conservative columnistRoss Douthatdoes not help matters.
16) ‘G.I. Jane’
This is sadly one of those movies that you understand in total by the point the trailer ends. Yes, plenty happens in Scott’s 1997 military drama centered on officer Jordan O’Neill (Demi Moore) and her struggles in training with the Combined Reconnaissance Team, and some of it is engaging enough. Her face-off with her Master Chief (Viggo Mortensen) are riveting and some exchanges brush up against complex concepts of gender, sexual assault, and misogyny for a quick second. On the whole, however, the whole point ofG.I. Janeis to prove that women can be just as tough as men, and that belittling them is wrong and harmful to society. As dedicated and occasionally thrilling as Moore is in the role, one could just as well force your Fox News-watching uncle to read a clever bumper sticker than watch this.
15) ‘White Squall’
This is another oddity, though in form, it’s a relatively tame beast. Scott’s adaptation of TheLast Voyage of the Albatrosstells of a group of adolescent young men who come of age while serving on the brigantine Albatross, where they are learning sailing from the Skipper, played by the unerringly invitingJeff Bridges. Then a severe storm hits and the tragic aftermath of the ship’s journey leads to the Skipper and members of the crew being questioned about their responsibility in a court of law. Had the movie not been sold distinctly as a shipwreck movie, and the script had not framed the story as to accentuate the inevitability of the storm,White Squallmight have been in the top ten, considering the camaraderie that’s evinced in the young men, played excellently by the likes ofJeremy Sisto, Ryan Phillipe, andScott Wolf, amongst others, and how riveting Bridges proves to be in the role of the Skipper. Unfortunately, the entire movie seems to only really come alive when its telegraphing the arrival of the climactic event, which renders the rest of the drama somewhat innocuous.
