Gold (2016)

What went wrong? A lot did. Matthew McConaughey gained weight, shaved his head and wore false teeth. But more importantly, he seemed to act his heart out for a film that gives the viewer nothing in return. When the script gives up, he simply rambles on in that familiar McConaughey style. Guess what? We have 2 hours to go, folks. Editing wise, a monkey might as well have done it. The film begins and ends abruptly. The transitions between scenes are all over the place. Robert Elswit is completely wasted here as cinematographer. His work here is beautiful to look at, as always, which at least makes this film semi-watchable. All other aspects of this film is classic Oscar-bait and as fate would have it, it was shunned out of all of the awards in 2017. Is the better Mcconaughey movie Fool's Gold? You know, it just might be!

Greed and obsession collide in Gold (2016), a gritty morality tale set in 1980s Nevada, Wall Street, and Indonesia. Matthew McConaughey plays Kenny Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break. He teams up with geologist Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramírez), and together they descend into the uncharted jungles of Indonesia hoping to find one big score. This poorly-advertised film almost escaped my notice, until I saw it playing at my local theater. I'm glad I took a chance on it. Gold is a solid film and surprisingly entertaining. Matthew McConaughey disappears into the role, achieving absolute rock bottom in body and spirit.Gold is loosely based on a true story. In 1995, a small Canadian mining company called Bre-X, owned by David Walsh, claimed to find a massive gold deposit deep in the Indonesian jungle on the Island of Borneo, near the Busang River. Filipino geologist Michael de Guzman and John Felderhof convinced Walsh to invest $80,000 to purchase and develop the gold mine.In 1997, Bre-X collapsed and its shares became worthless in one of the biggest stock scandals in Canadian history. On March 19, 1997, de Guzman committed suicide by jumping from a helicopter in Busang, Indonesia. An independent investigation of core samples from the mine determined de Guzman had been "salting" the samples with gold flakes, some from his own wedding ring. Walsh died of a brain aneurysm in the Bahamas in 1998, and in 2007, Felderhof was acquitted of securities charges. The scandal cost investors an estimated $3 billion.Gold follows Nevada prospector Kenny Wells, who inherited his father's company, Washoe Mining, in the early 1980s. Stress-induced alcoholism caused by the economic downturn leads him to sell the last of his jewelry and fly to Indonesia to meet geologist Michael Acosta. There he endures hardship and survives malaria. When he emerges from the illness, Acosta tells him he made what might be the largest gold discovery in history.Enter Mark Hancock (Bruce Greenwood) and the Wall Street tycoons who try to wrest control of the mine from Wells and Acosta. Wells refuses to budge, saying, "If you sell your dream, what do you have left?" Meanwhile, the overnight success destroys his relationship with longtime girlfriend Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) and strains his friendship with Acosta.Just before the fraud is revealed, Michael Acosta dumps his shares and disappears, leaving Wells to pick up the pieces and deal with angry investors and the FBI. FBI Agent Paul Jennings (Toby Kebbell) tells Wells that Acosta's body was found, eaten by wild boars, in the Indonesian jungle. I won't spoil the rest, suffice to say, the movie leaves Acosta's death open to interpretation.Directed by Stephen Gaghan, writer of Syriana (2005), Traffic (2000), and Havoc (2005), Gold looks and feels like American Hustle (2013) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), but a little more down-to-earth. Kenny Wells is believable and flawed. McConaughey sells him to the audience. We want his dream to come true as desperately as he does. It's not about the money, he argues, it's about the gold. By finding the mine and saving his family business, he will prove to himself and his long-departed father he's not a failure. Who doesn't understand that kind of motivation? I criticized Patriots Day (2016) for playing a little loose with the facts. After all, it was trying to dramatically portray actual events–events most of us watched unfold on television. Doesn't Gold suffer from the same problem? Not really. Although it's marketed as, "based on a too good to be true story," Gold never claims to be retelling history. Although there are times when it blurs that line, the characters are fictional, the company is fictional, the Wall Street tycoons are fictional. In that regard, it is more like American Hustle than The Wolf of Wall Street. While the Bre-X scandal rocked Canada, most Americans have probably never heard of it.In fact, screenwriters Patrick Massett and John Zinman were inspired to write the script after Massett saw an episode about the Bre-X scandal on a crime show. What seemed like a good idea for a movie turned into a screenplay inspired by, but not entirely based on, true events.Some critics have unfairly dismissed Gold as lackluster and uninspired. Granted, it's not a huge Hollywood production, but it has heart. Bryce Dallas Howard gives a good performance as Kenny Wells' girlfriend Kay, who seems enamored with Wells' enormous dreams but ultimately just wants to live a simple, quiet life. Though it flew under the radar, the film grossed $3.47 million in its opening weekend. It's definitely the best movie I've seen so far this year.

With a very deep voice that'll reach you, "A bird with no feet sleeps in the wind", just one of the quotes that'll have you think and not just watch. This picture is an experience that can teach a thing or two. The protagonist Kenny Wells has that connection with everyone, including those unattractive occasions in your life. It is rare for me to be sitting at the edge of my seat while a film is ending this one has put itself into that category. Gold isn't just Gold it's something you might want to live.

"Gold" seems long and has around three finales, but has a great ending that makes up for a lot.It starts in the 1980's; Matthew McConaughey plays Kenny Wells, a man who goes on a life-affirming quest to get funding for a new gold mine in Indonesia. He is a prospector at heart, although the physical search for gold is carried out by geologist Mike Acosta (Édgar Ramírez). The two join forces and seemingly discover a mountain of gold. However there are problems with the finance, the workers and eventually the Indonesian government. Finally there is the possibility that the whole thing is an elaborate scam.Kenny's love life suffers as his relentless search for the mother lode damages the relationship with his girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard). Matthew McConaughey goes to town on this role. Along the way he starts to lose his hair and develops a paunch; it's a pretty amazing performance and he does a number of his trademark, offbeat monologues."Gold" feels like "The Wolf of Wall Street" but without the laughs – it takes itself far more seriously. Kenny Wells is a driven man, and it's hard to totally identify with such self-focused characters. Leonardo DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort could laugh at himself and it made all the difference.With that said, the film has terrific locations and some great scenes including one where Kenny adds to his credentials as a risk taker by staring down a tiger. Iggy Pop channels Leonard Cohen to add a cool sound to the soundtrack with the theme song "Gold" and Daniel Pemberton's score is pretty chilled out, giving the film a mood without being obvious.As Kenny's fortunes ebb and flow, "Gold" seems a frustrating experience. However as the story plays out, Kenny's exuberance grows on you. Despite the pain in getting to the end, like Kenny, we exit the story with a smile.