GOLD – Rated R

GOLD – Rated R – 2 hours 1 min.

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Edgar Ramirez, Dallas Bryce Howard and Corey Stoll

Director Stephen Gaghan and Writers Patrick Masset & John Zinman dig deep to bring to life the real-life story of 1993’s Bre-X mining scandal – as we find that even where there’s gold to be found, it doesn’t always translate to riches in your pocket…THIS IS GOLD!

Born into one of the most prolific mining companies of the time, we meet Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey), who is hell bent on making his daddy proud, with his beautiful girl Kay (Dallas Bryce Howard) by his side.

When his life begins to veer far off track, Wells decides to seek out well-known geologist Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez) and secures his assistance in finding the Gold he just knows is hidden deep within the land of Indonesia.

As Wells and Acosta set out to find the type of riches that dreams are made of, it seems that Wells has a lot to learn, as this prospecting thing is way more work than he had ever imagined.

When Acosta finally finds the mother load that they have been searching for, it seems that everyone back home also wants a piece of this action too. Enter Investor Brian Woolf (Corey Stoll) into Wells’ life, seeming to be the type of catalyst Wells needs to make his present millions, into billions.

As Wells works feverously to rebuild his daddy’s company, it seems that the gold that was once in their profitable mine has disappeared, bringing Well’s company to ruins, and putting the feds on his tail, and with his partner Michael Acosta, no where to be found…

I give GOLD a rating WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD or NETFLIX! Even though I was anxious to see McConaughey back on screen again after his incredible performance last year in FREE STATE OF JONES, this performance ended up being rather subpar for the Oscar winner. I also found the storyline of the film to be very subdued, as it played out torturously slow, even with the numerous subplots involved. The only true highlight for me in this film was Ramirez’s performance, as he keeps you guessing what he is really all about, the whole way through. And as much as I usually enjoy Bryce Dallas Howard’s performances, I don’ think this film gave her enough material to truly shine, like she has in the past with her performances in THE HELP, or JURASSIC WORLD. Needless to say, when they moved back the release of this film from Christmas to late January, I was afraid that was a sign that it wasn’t going to end up being A MUST SEE ~ which was right ~because even with Ramirez’s dazzling performance, GOLD ended up being quite a lackluster film for me.

Kathy Kaiser