"FOOL'S GOLD" - THERE'S NOTHING SHINY ABOUT THIS SHIPWRECK

Five years after appearing together in 2003’s “How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days”, Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson reunite as an estranged couple who search for a 300 year Spanish treasure in this chaotic mess billed as a romantic action adventure. Trying to keep up with the telling of the over long and complex history of the treasure only serves as a tool for putting audiences to sleep. Actually a snooze might be the best way to get through the 112 minutes of wasted time.

On the positive side, and there is little to rave about, McConaughey spends almost his entire screen time looking like a shirtless and shoeless beach bum, showing off his tanned, well sculpted physique in the role of a treasure hunter named Finn who manages to withstand repeated blows to the head. Kate Hudson, on the other hand, is thin as a reed and bland in the role of his wife, Tess.

The premise goes like this. Tess is fed up, feeling she has wasted eight years of her life supporting her irresponsible husband’s dream of finding the so called “Queens Dowry”, an 18th century Spanish treasure reported to have sunk in the waters of the Caribbean. Eager to move on with her life and start anew, Tess has taken a job as a steward working for billionaire Nigel Honeycutt (David Sutherland) aboard his yacht, the “Precious Gem”, named after his clueless daughter. As it would happen, (only in movies) on the day of her divorce Finn’s boat blows up and sinks, but not before he discovers a piece of a plate while scuba diving, that appears to be a clue to the treasure he’s been searching for.

In one of the many ludicrous scenes, Finn manages to maneuver his way onto Honeycutt’s yacht and convince the wealthy man to fund his expedition. Yet, there are others in fierce competition who wants the loot as much as he does. On Finn’s tail is a murderous local gangsta thug named Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart) to whom he owes over $63 thousand and former mentor Moe Finch (Ray Winstone) who want to get to the treasure first and have no qualms about killing anyone who stands in their way.

Although shot in and around Queensland, Australia as a substitute for the tropical paradise, the cinematography does not take advantage of the beautiful post card scenery, which could certainly have made the film more watchable. At best, we have some nice underwater photography and McConaughey as hunky male eye candy. That is fine by me, but McConaughey can’t get by on his looks alone. I would say it is about time he moved on from portraying one too many charming, but immature, cads.

Nothing can save the badly written, convoluted script with its inclusion of recycled stock characters and outlandish situations. Although the basic premise involves Finn’s quest to find the treasure while also trying to win back the love of his wife, the crowded storyline includes a silly subplot about Nigel’s relationship with his bimbo, bikini clad twenty-something daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena), and some silly bickering between a couple of over the top gay cooks that are not the least bit interesting, funny or, for that matter, believable.

Speaking of believable, I can’t understand what led Donald Sutherland and Brit Ray Winstone to take on the inane, minor supporting roles of Nigel and Moe. For one thing, Sutherland’s dreadful English accent is both unbelievable and embarrassing. Then there is Ray Winstone’s attempt at a southern drawl, for some reason, that is needless to the plot. What a waste of talented actors! The money must be good. What other excuse could they have?

At the attempt of trying to be a mix of comedy, romance and action adventure Fool’s Gold fails miserably on all counts. It isn’t funny, there is little romance, a few sloppy action scenes and doesn’t come close to an exciting adventure. Audiences will have look elsewhere for a cinema treasure. For all its worth, there are plenty of fools, but nothing shiny in this shipwreck.

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