Fool’s Gold (*)
Directed By: Andy Tenant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama, Ever After, Fools Rush In)
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone
Seen: March 7th 2008
* Out of ****
Benjamin and Tess Finnegan (McConaughey and Hudson) are in a failing marriage. This is because Finn (Benjamin) has invested everything he has, which is not much at all, in finding the legendary 18th Century Queen’s Dowry, 40 chests of treasure that was lost at sea in 1715. Even his marriage could not withstand this obsession of his, and Tess does not want much to with him anymore, even though he’s a very likable guy.
Tess, in an attempt to rid herself of Finn, has accepted a job on board a mega-yacht, owned by billionaire Nigel Honeycutt. But when Finn discovers a vital new clue as to the treasure’s whereabouts, he realises that he won’t be able to do anything on his budget, and also not on his salvage boat, Booty Calls. He knows Tess works for Honeycutt, and thus manoeuvres himself into a position on the mega-yacht.
By now you’ve already known since the opening credits that he convinces his wife and the billionaire to join him in the treasure hunt, he and his wife spark up a flame again, amidst talk of “don’t even think about it’, and they are not the only one’s after a treasure possible worth billions. And yes, there might seem to be an element of fun infused in al of this, but the inclusion of a horde of ridiculous in between action comedy ideas (hitting a villain in the groin with a shovel, with the accompanying facial expressions that speaks volumes of acting ability) robs the film of this entirely.
What we end up with is a bunch of extreme caricatures running around on boats. The worst of these would firstly be Gemma Honeycutt, the billionaire’s daughter, who was an absolute annoyance from beginning to end; secondly Sutherland’s Nigel, who smacks of American-does-bad-and-irritating-British-accent from the first word he speaks, to thirdly Finn’s mentor turned nemesis Moe Fitch (Ray Winstone) as another claimant of the treasure…
An avalanche of bad or ill-considered elements sinks this film, and at the end, what looked like a leisurely entertaining afternoon turns out to be mere Fool’s Gold…
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone
Seen: March 7th 2008
* Out of ****
Benjamin and Tess Finnegan (McConaughey and Hudson) are in a failing marriage. This is because Finn (Benjamin) has invested everything he has, which is not much at all, in finding the legendary 18th Century Queen’s Dowry, 40 chests of treasure that was lost at sea in 1715. Even his marriage could not withstand this obsession of his, and Tess does not want much to with him anymore, even though he’s a very likable guy.
Tess, in an attempt to rid herself of Finn, has accepted a job on board a mega-yacht, owned by billionaire Nigel Honeycutt. But when Finn discovers a vital new clue as to the treasure’s whereabouts, he realises that he won’t be able to do anything on his budget, and also not on his salvage boat, Booty Calls. He knows Tess works for Honeycutt, and thus manoeuvres himself into a position on the mega-yacht.
By now you’ve already known since the opening credits that he convinces his wife and the billionaire to join him in the treasure hunt, he and his wife spark up a flame again, amidst talk of “don’t even think about it’, and they are not the only one’s after a treasure possible worth billions. And yes, there might seem to be an element of fun infused in al of this, but the inclusion of a horde of ridiculous in between action comedy ideas (hitting a villain in the groin with a shovel, with the accompanying facial expressions that speaks volumes of acting ability) robs the film of this entirely.
What we end up with is a bunch of extreme caricatures running around on boats. The worst of these would firstly be Gemma Honeycutt, the billionaire’s daughter, who was an absolute annoyance from beginning to end; secondly Sutherland’s Nigel, who smacks of American-does-bad-and-irritating-British-accent from the first word he speaks, to thirdly Finn’s mentor turned nemesis Moe Fitch (Ray Winstone) as another claimant of the treasure…
An avalanche of bad or ill-considered elements sinks this film, and at the end, what looked like a leisurely entertaining afternoon turns out to be mere Fool’s Gold…
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