Review of Gold (2016) by Wayne K — 09 Aug 2017

Gold, a.k.a. The Wolf Of Jakarta Street, tells the story of, brace yourself, a super ambitious businessman whose overzealousness leads him to fame and fortune but also personal misery, betrayal and the alienation of those around him.

Who says originality is dead? Matthew McConaughey, who I think is a great actor, gives one of his least comprehensible performances to date, mumbling, grumbling and whispering his dialogue to such an extent that its largely inaudible.

I won't deny that his performance is committed, but it's so difficult to understand what he's saying that listening to him prattling on quickly becomes a chore. His story arc isn't interesting, most of what he does isn't interesting, and the jerky plot rapidly descends into an episodic mess.

I was bored in roughly the first 30 minutes, and while parts of it nearly pulled me back in, by the time the credits rolled I wished I hadn't bothered watching any of it in the first place.