GOLD – Review

Inspired by a true story, the disappointing GOLD stars Mathew McConaughey as Kenny Wells, who in the late 1980’s inherited the Washoe Mining Company in Reno, Nevada from his father (Craig T. Nelson). He’s such a failure that he’s soon running it from the back of the restaurant where his devoted girlfriend Kaylene (Bryce Dallas Howard) waits tables. But Kenny’s fortunes appear to change when he teams up with experienced geologist, Michael Acosta (Édgar Ramírez). The pair head to the jungles of Indonesia where, under the watchful eye of the Suharto regime, and after Kenny almost dies from malaria, the pair announce a major gold strike, the “largest of the decade”. Washoe’s stock soars as everybody vies for a piece of the action.

The elements are there for a good story with GOLD, but they don’t fit together well thanks to an underwritten script and a focus on the wrong character. There’s a major twist that unfolds in the last 20 minutes. (…minor spoiler alert….). It’s a con, and though the story is told through Kenny’s money-hungry eyes, it’s a hoax not of his doing. It’s odd – like if Robert Redford had no idea what Paul Newman was up to at the end of THE STING. I wanted to know more about this Michael Acosta character – it’s he that should have been front and center instead of Kenny Wells. Showing a con from the point of view of a victim (which Wells is until the film’s nonsensical last shot) isn’t as satisfying as showing the details of how the caper was pulled off. The story of this Latino geologist who used Wells as a pawn to help fleece greedy American investors would have made for a more compelling story than what we’re given. That would have required the script to flesh Acosta out more, but Ramírez plays him too close to the vest, revealing no psychological or moral insight.

McConaughey portrays Kenny Wells as a balding, snaggle-toothed, beer-bellied slob. It’s a startling, Oscar-bait type of physical transformation but in terms of style, Kenny Wells is the same cocky, gonzo wild man McConaughey so often plays. He’s still that stock-trading guru who had that one scene in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET but since he’s physically less attractive (and cheats on Kaylene), he comes off as a repulsive buffoon. Despite a couple of uses of split-screen, Stephen Gaghan directs GOLD in a mostly artless and pedestrian manner, making the 122-minute running time an endurance. This film has a cheapness to it. Thailand apparently stood in for Indonesia, but the jungle scenes looks like they could have been filmed anywhere, and in a scene where Wells is invited to ring the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell, there’s maybe a half dozen traders milling about on the floor. The film’s annoying song score begins with a couple of period standards, then introduces lame new tunes from the likes of Iggy Pop and Danger Mouse that add nothing. GOLD isn’t a terrible movie, but like the big jackpot at its center, it’s a hollow shell of an enterprise, and as the end credits roll, you’ll be wondering what all the fuss was about.

2 of 5 Stars