Street Date: June 17

Official Synopsis:
Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson go for the gold (and the diamonds, emeralds and rubies) as a just-divorced couple who bicker and banter their way through an adventure- and laugh-packed undersea treasure hunt. McConaughey is Finn, in love with his ex (Hudson) and in deep with gangster Bigg Bunny. After eight years of searching, Finn gets a clue to the whereabouts of the Queen's Dowry, a fabulous fortune that mysteriously disappeared in the Caribbean in 1715. Now all he has to do is get the gold, get the girl and get going before Bigg Bunny gets him. Directed by Andy Tennant (Hitch), Fool's Gold glitters with danger, action, romance, comedy, great one-liners - and a great time to be had by all!

  
Our Take:
I watched Fool’s Gold with a good friend of mine and our respective spouses, and while we all agreed that it was a pretty terrible film, I think my friend summed it up best when he said: “Only a fool would watch this movie.”

Now I know some of you are thinking, “Well, duh,” but you have to admit that Matthew McConaughey romantic comedies usually tend to exhibit at least a certain level of charm and humor. Fool’s Gold is exactly like that, only without the charm and the humor. Or the romance, or a coherent plotline for that matter. Yeah, can you believe it? Fool’s Gold is actually hard to follow. After about 40 minutes of completely chemistry-free interaction between McConaughey and Kate Hudson, we finally get to hear the history of the treasure they’re searching for in the film. The only problem is, said story of said treasure is so convoluted and makes such little sense that the only interesting part of the film soon loses you in its complexity. Terrific.

At least you would think you could rely on McConaughey’s usual schtick to get you through, but that isn’t the case. He phones in his performance, Hudson seems bored, and Donald Sutherland (one of the only interesting characters in the film) is just not developed enough as a character for the great actor to do anything with. Add in a treasure hunting rapper (yes, you read that correctly), and the result is a pretty awful  mess that deserves to stay hidden underwater.

There are just a few extra features included on the DVD:

* Flirting With Adventure - The Chemistry Between Two Charming Contemporary Stars – An ironically titled featurette, since they have zero chemistry in this film.
* Gag Reel – Funnier than the movie. But that’s not saying much.

“Only a fool would watch Fool’s Gold.” I don’t know what else I can say to top that.

Overall Picture:
Movie: D
DVD: C+

- Mike Spring

Editor