Review of Gold (2017) by Patrick L — 03 May 2017

"This movie is not in any shape or form original and it may serve as a more lite version of "The Wolf of Wall Street" but "Gold" serves as another acting showcase for Matthew McConaughey".

Movie Review: Gold.

Date Viewed: February 7 2017.

Directed By Stephen Gaghan (Abandon and Syriana).

Written By Patrick Massett and John Zinman.

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Bryce Dallas Howard, Edgar Ramirez, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Joshua Harto, Timothy Simons, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Landes, Bill Camp, Stacy Keach, Rachael Taylor and Craig T. Nelson.

Here we go again with this American dream humbo-jumbo. "Gold" is loosely based on the true story of an American prospector and businessman who teams up with a Latino geologist to find precious gold deep in the terrain jungles of Borneo, Indonesia. This rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags-again story has been baked and sold hundreds of times before but what keeps "Gold" afloat is Matthew McConaughey's terrifically uncanny performance. With his rom-com days behind him, McConaughey has become a real presence on screen thanks to a series of great leading or supporting performances.

"Gold" jumps around the 80s and early 90s as the story revolves around unlucky schmuck businessman Kenny Wells (McConaughey). He may have inherited his father's (Craig T. Nelson) Nevada mining company but he doesn't know what to do with it. Drying up on resources and money, he and along with geologist Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez) decide to journey to the deep jungles of Borneo, Indonesia where they hope to find gold.

When they do find gold, Kenny and Michael strike the golden ticket and they use it to buy their own candy like getting new homes and setting up a new business for themselves. Kenny's vast love for gold and his richness are concerning to his girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) and eventually she dumps him after he gets cozy with a flirtatious finance hotshot named Rachel (Rachael Taylor). Things only get worse for Kenny as the Indonesian government takes over the mining camp and the FBI begins to sniff around his activities.

Sporting a sweaty face and a nearly bald head, Matthew McConaughey gives a dynamite performance as a rags-to-riches businessman whose taste for gold consumes his daily life and Edgar Ramirez is fine here as Kenny Wells' geologist partner but I wish the movie would explore more on Bryce Dallas Howard's character because she is just here to be the girlfriend and not much else.

Directed by Stephen Gaghan who wrote the screenplays for critically acclaimed dramas such as "Traffic" and "Syriana" (which he also directed), "Gold" serves as "Wolf of Wall Street-lite" which coincidentally co-starred Matthew McConaughey in a small role as another snarky businessman. The supporting cast also includes Timothy Simons, Stacy Keach, Corey Stoll as a New York banker who wants to invest in Kenny's gold mining empire and Toby Kebbell as an FBI agent who's hot on Kenny's trail.

Again, this movie is not in any shape or form original but it serves as another showcase for McConaughey and his surreal acting talents.