Director: Stephan Gaghan
By Alex Watson
Although it yearns to be this year's The Wolf of Wall Street, Stephen Gaghan cannot make Gold shine brightly. Matthew McConaughey's performance is very much what makes the film tick. Unfortunately, the movies relies a little too heavily on him for support. Years ago this might have been a thought provoking piece of cinema, nowadays it just feels like a run of the mill money drama.
Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) is a prospector who is currently down to his last dime. Desperate to get rich, he flies to Indonesia on a whim where he meets mining legend Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez). Despite a tough start in the harsh jungle environment they miraculously strike Gold. As his name and wealth grows, Kenny soon becomes the focal point in a power struggle. With the feds also taking an interest will his luck hold out?
During the first act of Gold, you really get the impression that Kenny is the ultimate chancer. A boozed up and balding failure, Kenny attempts to keep his father company afloat selling speculative mining ventures using his outdated sales pitches. When he arrives in Indonesia the whole thing just feels like an exercise in futility. Although this sequence is key to setting up later events, Gaghan seems in a big rush to the important stuff. As the rain falls and Kenny struggles we never really get a good sense of precisely what is happening? When the big moment hits we merely shrug and say 'OK' to whatever is happening.
On the surface, Gaghan was the perfect choice to helm this project after directing Syriana and winning an Oscar for writing Traffic. Sadly he seems more interested in basking in McConaughey's glow that giving an insight into a intriguing industry. The later events feel like more like a formulaic rise and fall than a commentary on today's American market. While Kenny is raking in the dough and satisfying his nagging girlfriend (a thankless role for Bryce Dallas Howard), he also shows signs of greed (shock horror!). Big investors like Corey Stoll's Brian Woolf and Bruce Greenwood's Gold King Mark Hancock circle his fortune like a gull. His pride and refusal to allow his name to lose credibility are what will orchestrate his downfall.
The relationship between Kenny and Michael is integral to the success of Gold but yet Gaghan invests so little in it. Coming across as the wise and hard-working friends you would kill for, Michaels intentions are always a mystery. Dipping in and out of proceedings his presences is missed whenever he is absent. Part of the issues of the story is that Gaghan seems to assume his audience is clued up on movies such as The Big Short. As a result, he dives headfirst into this story without giving us a chance to catch up. Although this tale of riches does have its moments, its lack of real drama and dilemma gives it a rather hollow feel. It feels like a movie made as a hail mary Oscar effort by its studio.
As mentioned Matthew McConaughey once more does his star credibility no harm and his efforts are sorely wasted. Injecting life into what is essentially a dull drama, McConaughey's Kenny Wells feels like a distant relation to Dallas Buyers Club's Ron Woodruff. Permanently sweaty and sauced up, Kenny Wells is the type of business man you move away from at parties. Edgar Ramirez also matches MM with a smartly downplayed turn. Michael Acosta is most definitely the smartest man in the room and knows it, he has nothing to prove and mend the fences Kenny breaks. Sadly Ramirez's performance hasn't nearly been the credit it deserves. One of the better supporting actors one day Oscar will take notice.
It feels surprising that Gold has been such a misfire when the hands making it were so skilled. It just proves that movies about wealth are not always a sure fire hit.
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