Here is “Gold,” another money-obsessed drama, which may have the potential to rank with Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” but atlas, becomes a dull, generic bio. It starts off well with a would-be businessman named Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey, also a producer) planning to start a gold company, which fails to get funds because of an economical decline in the 1980s. And so, he sells his girlfriend’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) watch in order to take a trip to Indonesia, where a geologist named Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez) has the perfect spot to dog for gold. Weeks later, eureka! They found a gold mine.
The rest, however, goes in different directions, ones I’ve seen better in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” but somehow don’t approve of. It involves Kenny’s romance taking a U-turn, big businesses taking his and Michael’s name, and a big twist about the gold being fake. Sorry for the spoiler alert, but I can’t recommend this movie, so save your money.
There are a few nice qualities about “Gold.” I’ve enjoyed the scenery of Indonesia in the jungles and hotels. They all look so fascinating. McConaughey and Ramirez have chemistry, and respectively, their performances make their characters are likable. And you do get some support from Howard, Corey Still (as a New York investment banker), and Toby Kebbell (as an FBI agent), but not at the level of the supporting characters from “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
I’m sorry to keep bringing up “The Wolf of Wall Street,” even though McConaughey did co-star in it, but so far, “War Dogs” is the best in a series of these money movies to come as close to beating it. Others like “The Gambler,” “Focus,” and now “Gold” have failed to do so. The day a money movie beats “The Wolf of Wall Street,” I’ll pay tribute to that; but for now, as much effort as “Gold” shows, it never seems to take off.
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