Review of Fool's Gold (2008) by Nick A — 26 Apr 2010

Director Andy Tennant, who had built for himself a tiny steeple of successful romantic comedies ("Ever After", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Hitch"), searches for treasure in his latest, though, much as his film's characters do, ends up sinking his steeple and nearly loses all of his credibility in the process.

The problem isn't the story -- a loser treasure hunter and his ex-wife must find the sunken fortune of 18th century Spanish royals in order to pay their debts to a rapper named Bigg Bunny...or else! (I bet you can't guess what happens) -- though it stunk like a septic man's treasure. The problem isn't the production, either -- the film mostly takes place in the Caribbean but was filmed in Queensland, Australia. The problem isn't even the cast, which, in addition to Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, includes Donald Sutherland and Ray Winstone. The problem with "Fool's Gold" is its extraordinary inability to make a single connection between any two of the aforementioned pieces.

The caper yarn it tries to weave quickly becomes a stingy knot, deadening in its dullness, frustrating in its lackadaisical pace -- the movie introduces a shirt-full of unnecessary (and obtuse) characters that only make this worse -- and laughable (or infuriating -- you choose) in its predictability. Moreover, its gorgeous locations (the kind that, if used properly, can set a wonderful romantic mood) are sparsely showcased and weren't accentuated when they should have been. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there was no chemistry among the cast members and their disinterest was shamefully palpable with each line they spoke. In particular, McConaughey and Hudson seemed to have lost the scant passion they shared in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", which, when paired with this treacherous out-at-sea escapade, starts to look like a classic really fast.

"Fool's Gold" is not funny, nor is it the least bit romantic, nor is it even slightly adventurous. In fact, the funniest aspect of this heavy hunk of rubble is its title -- it bewilders me that even the oblivious filmmakers that scrapped together this mess could be so ignorant. Yes, it makes sense. But only in that they're all fools and they gravely mistook their movie and its title for a brain-slapping bit of comedic irony. It's not ironic. It's not clever. It's stupid. Just like the team that put the film together. Just like the movie itself.