Gold, la gran estafa

Essentially, 'Gold' is an old fashioned adventure movie. A hostile environment, changing fortunes, shifting alliances, unexpected adversaries, a seemingly betrayed friendship: it's all there. But the setting is out of the ordinary: it's the financial world with millions of dollars pumped into promising mining stocks. But those millions can just as quickly be withdrawn when the prospects change.

The adventurer in the midst of it all is Kenny Wells, son of a Nevada gold prospector and heir to an almost bankrupt mining company. In an all-or-nothing attempt, he travels to Indonesia for a meeting with a legendary drilling expert. The next step is to find the money required for the drilling. What follows, is a roller-coaster ride of successes and setbacks.

Matthew McConaughey is amazing as Kenny Wells, a raving maniac with a fearless can-do mentality and a complete lack of respect for Wall Street hotshots or mining moguls. This is one of his best roles ever, and it's worth an Oscar. You can see the doubt in the eyes of everyone he meets: is this a madman who doesn't know what he's up to, or a go-getter who doesn't give up until he reaches his goal? Wells is both, and McConaughey makes his complex character completely believable.

There are some extra layers in the story underlining this complexity: the relationship with his wife Kay, and the friendship with his business partner Mike Acosta. The latter is responsible for the spectacular ending of the story, with a really nice surprise in the last seconds.

The whole story is based on the Bre-X scandal, which hit the worldwide headlines in the nineties. Some details are changed, but on the whole the story follows the real events pretty accurate. The scandal was a prime example of excessive capitalist greed, and the film is a nice reminder of it.

I actually thought this was a pretty good movie, despite the relatively low ratings. Both McConaughey and Ramírez played very well, also good to see Stoll in this movie. The story was entertaining, never a dull moment (unlike Moonlight, sorry, but that was really boring and I believed the rave reviews...). Anyway, it was worth seeing it!

A cute, if too long movie that had me reaching for Wikipedia to check the truth.

McConaughey, Ramirez and Howard are all excellent.

A solid watch.

Inspired by the Bre-X scandal, it's 1988 Reno. Hard drinking Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) and girlfriend Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) are struggling. He's a lifelong wildcat prospector working for his respected father until his sudden death. With nothing left in business, he goes to Indonesia and connects with geologist Michael Acosta (Édgar Ramírez) who has a revolutionary theory. They head into the jungle and become gold mining legends.

I do remember Bre-X. Some of it came back to me along with the movie. I remember one of the reporters telling the story of a souvenir core sample. They handed out samples to reporters and investors. As the scandal broke, they went back to test those samples. I think there is a missing character. It needs an investigative reporter who uncovers the scandal. Kenny and Kay's breakup seems abrupt. The second half seems a bit rushed although the two hour running time probably forced some cutting. McConaughey may be trying too hard shooting for an award. There is a compelling character story here if not fully realized as a thriller.

First of, Gold is better than its IMDb rating and meta-score. I feel this movie is a victim of the studio going wild with a pair of scissors, trying to make it short(er) (even at 2 hours) to please the mainstream audience, but while doing that, this movie loses a lot of substance. Character development is lacking, apart from our protagonist, so it doesn't really feel like we get to know them. One moment we have a new (seemingly an important) character, and then he or she will either disappear or roam in the background. I guess that happens when you start cutting. I suspect there's a great version of this movie out there, and I'd rather watch a 3 hour version with everything included, than this. The movie also takes place in the late 80's(?) or early 90's, but I don't feel like time was important here, which makes things a little confusing. I have no idea if they've been at something for a week, a month, or five years.

The whole movie also feels a little rushed in the sense that it tries to get to the end as quickly as possible. It lacks the details; Slow down a little, speak to us, breathe. I want to know more, I want to see more, but it ends up being a National Geographic article instead of a book.

It's far from bad though, and it's an enjoyable watch. Just don't go in expecting a masterpiece.