Trust

It's 1973. John Paul Getty (Donald Sutherland) rules his family and oil business empire with an iron fist. His guests have to use the payphone inside his home. When his son George kills himself in Hollywood, he squashes any suggestions of a suicide in the family. Every one of his children is a disappointment to him. He pits his family and his live-in mistresses against each other. His free-spirited 16 year old grandson J. Paul Getty III shows up at the family English compound for George's funeral. The grandfather is taken with his relatively smart grandson and installs him as his heir apparent. While they clash over his need for cash, they do bond over their womanizing ways. The boy's estranged father outs his hard partying ways and the grandfather disowns him. Back in Rome, the grandson is kidnapped by criminals for ransom. Gail Getty (Hilary Swank) is the kid's desperate mother. James Fletcher Chace (Brendan Fraser) is the Getty cowboy investigator.

Sutherland is superb. This is fun. It's rich people dysfunction and it's a kidnapping caper. It's a lot of great stuff. There was supposed to be a second season but I don't think we're getting it at this point. That's fine. This show is half acting and half story. I'm sure they could come up with a similar level of story but it was going to be hard to do this without Sutherland. As a limited series, this is a solid ten episodes.

I approached "Trust" with some trepidation. I let it set on the Sky Box for months, having recorded it in the summer of 2018 but not actually coming round to watching it until Easter 2019. Most of the trepidation came because I'd seen some lukewarm reviews and I had seen "All The Money In The World" that year, so was already familiar with the story. I'm glad I gave it a chance though, as with a bit of distance from the film, I found the series pretty enjoyable.

The grandson of the world's Richest Man, John-Paul Getty (Donald Sutherland) is kidnapped in Italy, but his kidnappers have not accounted for the ruthlessness of the old man, who refuses to pay the ransom. Whilst young John III's mother Gail (Hilary Swank) and Getty's "fixer" Fletcher (Brendan Fraser) attempt to determine what's happened, and even whether the kidnapping is genuine, the Italians that have him are becoming increasingly frustrated and desperate.

I think I preferred "Trust" to "All The Money In the World" as the 10 episode scope allowed for a much more detailed look at the case. A deeper investigation of the family dynamics ahead of the kidnapping and a closer look at the mechanics of the crime family that held their valuable hostage are a couple of the deeper cuts. I did worry ahead of watching the series that it would be pretty dry, but it's infused with a sense of pace, and is very well mixed with the editing and cutting in of music of the time. Performances are, across the board, excellent and much credit should go to Harris Dickinson, who is the only actor in every episode, playing John-Paul Getty III, the victim of the kidnapping. Despite his early bohemian wastrel ways, you never lose feelings for him and feel some of the peril he goes through.

It does take one huge risk, allowing Brendan Fraser's character to directly address the audience during two of the episodes. What might be jarring switch actually works quite well, as it allows to show to unload a lot of the context, and the wider resolution on you, without becoming to tiresome or protracted.

Maybe it's just that my expectations were particularly low, but I really enjoyed "Trust" - an unexpected treat.

I saw the movie, so I had some hesitations before giving this serie a chance. But I was pleasantly surprised. Of course they spiced it up a little, so you get a mix of something inspired on true events and a juicy family soap. If the level of production doesn't crumble (like American crime story) the following episodes, I'm in for a nice season.

Every episode reminds you that the dialogue is well, pretty much fact - but I have a hard time not believing the show took extreme liberties with the facts. That said, I definitely enjoyed the series very much. It's one of those, "OK just one more...OK just one more then I'm going to bed. OK just one more..." things that keeps you up too late. Donald Sutherland is GREAT as J. Paul Getty and even resembles the original JPG. I'm going to give Donald a .362 score as related in baseball batting averages for the entire season. The next heavy hitter is Brendan Fraser as the likable Fletcher Chace, with a BA of .340 and a lot of dingers. Luca Marinelli as Primo is a SOLID 3rd baseman with a strong arm hitting .309 with zeero errors. Fine actor. Silas Carson as the butler is impeccable, a .325 hitter and an errorless season. Harris Dickinenson as JPG III was a touted first round pick but ended up hitting .234 with too many strikeouts. Much of the show takes place in Italy, where they speak Italian - so I read what they were saying. I'd say the whole Italian cast did a fantastic job, most outstanding - Primo - see above. Beautifully filmed, most scenes take place at The Mansion or in Italy. Watch it, you will like.

The first episode was a very well balanced blend of action, character development, humor, unpredictability and intensity. Also great scenery, and a nice incorporation of the culture of the 1970's.

I have absolutely no idea where this series is going, but it's easy to get invested in the characters - something that is often overlooked in new series.