Gold: Movie Review

This is the second time within the past two weeks where I was left unimpressed by a film that was not only based on a true story but also featured a cast that should have had no problem bringing it to life.  “The Founder” was the first and now we have “Gold”.  Both stories revolve around business, discovery, and greed and the mix can make for very compelling cinema. The problem I feel that lies in both films is the direction.

Directed by Stephen Gaghan (“Syriana”), the film centers on unlikely business partners Kenny Wells (Mattew McConaughey) and Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez).  Kenny came up from a family of miners, starting with his great grandfather.  After his father passed away, the business changed for the worse and by 1988 he was using the bar that his wife (Bryce Dallas Howard) works at as his office.

After having a vivid dream about gold in Indonesia, Kenny pawned not only his own jewelry, but also his wife’s so he could fund a trip overseas.  Shortly after, he makes a deal with Michael to dig for gold, promising that he can raise the funds needed to do so.

With funds quickly depleting and Kenny suffering from malaria, the pair wind-up discovering a massive amount of gold.  Now everyone wants a piece of the action, including Wall Street guy, Brian Woolf (Corey Stoll). I wasn’t familiar with the true-life story prior to seeing the film, so I don’t want to get into the details on what happens later on.  I will say that it went in a direction I wasn’t expecting, not entirely anyways.

“Gold” isn’t a bad movie, not at all. However it is very uneven. The first half movies along quite slowly, but picks-up some steam once the two men discover the gold and the money and attention starts coming.  McConaughey is great here and isn’t afraid to show off the forty pounds he put on for the role.  I can’t recommend dropping twelve bucks to see “Gold” in the theater, but it might be worth a look when it eventually hits cable or streaming services later this year.

By: Marc Ferman