Gold

I don't know why this movie has been underrated so much. It deserves at least 8. If you liked Blow, or Wolf of Wall Street... this is just as good! Maybe not so deep story, but still, amazing Matthew does what he's supposed to.

Don't follow the ratings and check this out!

I am shocked at the low IMDb score for this movie as I enjoyed every aspect of it... the acting, directing, cinematography etc 'except' for the editing (sound and cutting room).

The problem started with the very choppy scene changes and the cut- short dialogue. There were too many back and forth timeline changes and they were very poorly transitioned.

What I really question is how the synopsis has much more information than what was in the film. Did that viewer see a different extended version of the movie I just watched? Don't get me wrong, it really filled in a lot of gaps that otherwise wouldn't have been filled in for me to truly understand certain parts and fully enjoy the movie. Every 30 min or so I'd go catch up on the synopsis before continuing the movie and it really did help.

I also had a very difficult time understanding the dialogue as it was either too low or too muffled (or Matthew was whispering too low).

So although I really did enjoy this movie, I felt a lot of key parts ended up on the cutting room floor that thankfully the synopsis filled in, and the sound (dialogue) needed some tweaking to be more understandable.

7.5/10 rounded up to 8 for the current undeserving low score.

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 But those millions can just as quickly be withdrawn when the prospects change.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.

What got me about this flick, was the whole risk element. When your at your very lowest, with nothing left to lose, then risking everything, isn't too difficult. Matthew McConaughey is brilliant as he always is. The mystery of his ability is different from other actors. He looks, talks and seems very much the same in all his roles, yet somehow makes you believe he is that person. Bryce Howard also gives a good performance. Her physical appearance is trans-formative, and you clearly would never recognize her. This movie combined the elements of a treasure hunt, and the allure and adventure of the find, with a corporate thriller. Realism, however, prevents me from going higher. I'm already stretching it with rating it an 8. The strange ups and downs that happened, along with the not so surprise of an ending, is the stretch that leaves it at the 8 point. Nonetheless, its highly entertaining, and I recommend it just as highly.

A few years ago a performance like the one Matthew McConaughey delivers here in Stephen Gaghan's based on a true tale Gold would've created quite a stir.

It's a credit to the actor, who resurrected his career from the doldrums of so-so romcoms, Surfer Dudes and other forgettable affairs to all of a sudden become an Oscar winning and HBO headlining legend but with that career revival has come an expectation that McConaughey going method and fully inhabiting his characters is the normal and therefore less of an event that it was, a mere few years ago.

No more so evident than in the fact Gold came and disappeared with very little fanfare in the awards season rush at the end of 2016, McConaughey chewing up the scenery wasn't enough to draw people into the cinemas, as the beer bellied, hair thinning and sweaty thespian found himself being the best thing about a so-so film that never feels completely assured of itself.

Telling the rather complex story of struggling 1980's American prospector/mining magnate Kenny Wells, who found fame and wealth by teaming up with prospecting master Michael Acosta in the jungles of Indonesia, Syriana director and Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan never pieces together the many various elements of Well's story into a satisfactory whole as events come and go and Well's journey takes its twists and turns.

As is with any film in the vein of Gold, it's always a fine balance for a filmmaker to strike the perfect line between pandering to an audience or keeping them in the dark and unfortunately for Gold there ends up being too many times where we're left in the lurch a little by the plights affecting Well's while some scenes in the film that feel hugely important to the whole scheme of things, often feel underutilised or passed over which leaves the trials and adversities of this American mogul emotionally unengaging.

What can't be denied in the film however is the aforementioned work of McConaughey, who's a joy to watch as Wells, the car crash waiting to happen.

In a loaded cast that includes an underused Bryce Dallas Howard as Well's long-suffering girlfriend Kay, Edgar Ramirez as Acosta, Corey Stoll as Wall Street player Brian Woolf and Toby (needs a new agent) Kebbell as FBI investigator Paul Jennings, McConaughey stands head and shoulders above the rest and while its far from his best turn over recent years, it's a quality actor that can deliver such above average performances on cue, as McConaughey does here.

Sometimes clad in nothing more than some worn-out white underpants or looking dishevelled beyond belief, McConaughey's turn as Well's deserves a better film and showcases what might've been for Gold had it managed to match the chaotic nature of its main character and the commitment of its on form leading man.

Final say –

Digging up another memorable McConaughey turn, Gold doesn't strike it rich due to tonal issues and a lack of emotional engagement but Gaghan's slightly disappointing film is still an often intriguing true story made all the better by the work of its leading man.

3 pot bellies out of 5