Opening today: Fool’s Gold
February 8th, 2008 by Allison Keene in Film
(Image courtesy Warner Bros.)
Opening today, Fool’s Gold provides the perfect name for a shiny film without much depth. Nevertheless, its cinematic treasure chest doesn’t come up empty, and made me long for the warm-weather months. Seeing Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey (as just-divorced couple Tess and Finn) amble around in beachwear, often barefoot, sipping cold beverages on perfectly temperate days was almost too much to bear in this wintry weather. The (nearly) carefree existence of Finn’s tramplike fortune hunter had me ready to toss my hard-earned diploma out the window and head for the coast. But paradise is not without its perils.
Our heroes spent the better part of their young adulthood searching for a mythical treasure from a shipwrecked vessel just off the south coast of Florida. With years wasted and nothing to show for it, Tess leaves slacker Finn, who then just happens to stumble across a clue to the treasure’s location.
Of course, shenanigans ensue when Finn has trouble financing his fortune hunting, getting him mixed up with a homicidal rap star called Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart). He then looks to reconnect with his now ex-wife, who currently works as a steward on a fully equipped yacht that belongs to the fabulously wealthy Nigel Honeycutt (a subdued Donald Sutherland) and his Paris Hilton wannabe daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena), who are themselves looking for adventure. The tale takes few twists, but doesn’t really need them.
The key to enjoying Fool’s Gold is to take it for what it is: a warm, light-hearted adventure with acres of unparalleled beach scenery and yards of tanned bodies. In a reprise of the pair-up in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Hudson and McConaughey have believable on-screen chemistry and a high likeability factor, despite McConaughey playing the village idiot – which stands to reason, seeing how Finn is beaten, smacked and clouted over the head so many times that fortune hunting seems more hazardous than professional boxing. Perhaps I won’t pursue a coastal career after all.
Not to be mistaken for a romantic chick-flick nor an adventure classic – and was anybody actually making that mistake? — Fool’s Gold gives off a warm glow to melt some of the winter doldrums.
Three stars
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