Fool's Gold

Review 1 of 7

roderickdeweever writes:

1of 4 Stars

The most incredible thing about this movie is how incredibly nothing seemed to work. You cast two stars who have had chemistry together (Hudson and McConaghey last sparked up the big screen in 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'), a director who is known for doing romantic comedies well (Andy Tenant's resume includes Sweet Home Alabama, Ever After and Hitch) and have a supporting cast including Ray Winstone, Ewen Bremmer and Donald Sutherland and still completely botch the way this film has turned out.

Kate Hudson is a very capable leading woman, and Matthew McConaghey is a very capable leading man, but in this movie, all their efforts (and talents) is wasted. Forget who's shirtless and who's not, the main problem with this film is it should have just been about the main two characters, however, the screenwriter fill in the movie with side characters who detract from and ruin the movie. Especially times, when these other characters are just standing around waiting for their cue to do something (or even think!) from either McConaughey or Hudson.

Also, what's with all the accents? Ewen Bremer is a Brit acting as a Russian with an stereotype accent. Donald Sutherland is an American acting as a Brit with a shaky accent. Ray Winstone is a Brit acting as an American with an accent. Malcolm Jamal-Warner (no I didn't forget you Cosby kid) is an American, acting as a Jamaican with a very poor accent. All for no apparent reason! The filmmakers should have just let the actors play their natural selves instead of cooking up characters with backgrounds that only go as deep as their nationalities! Alexis Dziena plays the male eye candy as dumb as it was written, which gets old fast and Brian Hooks' (what the heck have you been doing since 'Phat Beach'?) character is also another arc-less wonder penned by the screenwriters (which also include the director).

There's no doubt in my mind that Andy Tenant knows how to make a good film, as there are glimpses even in this mess of his intention. Near the end when Kate and Matthew are stuck in an airplane losing fuel neither with the ability of flying skills, there is so much chemistry there, that I scratched my head wondering, where was this for the first 100 minutes! Instead, I believe everyone seemed to be caught up in the beautiful scenery of the on location shoot and decided to make this a paid vacation instead of actually putting the effort in and making a movie. If that was the case, why should anyone make the effort to watch this abysmal film, and the answer is, they shouldn't.

Jul 19, 2008 15:54:32

Review 2 of 7

deadduck writes:

1of 4 Stars

Very, very disappointed in this movie and the actors.

Mar 3, 2008 06:05:02

Review 3 of 7

gustonelli writes:

1of 4 Stars

Dear RTickle: I agree with your premises, though not with your conclusion. I agree that not every movie needs to be "The Shawshank redemption", and sometimes I just want something undemanding to take my mind of things. "Juno", to cite just one movie, is 'a simple comedy made for folks who just need a light-hearted romp'. "Fool's gold", on the other hand, is a piece of crap. Things don't get better because they get more simple.

Feb 20, 2008 23:40:14

Review 4 of 7

davidbeile writes:

1of 4 Stars

Wow, I went to see this film with high hopes, only to have them shattered and thrown away. I assumed it wasn't going to be that good, wow, I couldn't have been more correct. I walked into the theater knowing it would suck, but still went with a smile on my face. I came back out with no feeling other than pure loathing for the poor bastards who made this Godforsaken bowel movent. Well, an A for effort. It's a face only a mother could love, if even that. If you haven't seen, don't be in any hurry. Compared to this, a hernia would be kindly welcomed.

Feb 15, 2008 22:49:54

Review 5 of 7

McSutherlandson writes:

3of 4 Stars

We (wife and I) enjoyed "Fool's Gold". We laughed ate popcorn, drank coke and had fun. That was enough for us. We also enjoyed "No Country for Old Men" but that was a different experience.

Feb 14, 2008 16:15:54

Review 6 of 7

RTickle writes:

3of 4 Stars

Maybe Mr. Travers was suffering from "Sundance Fever"...this is a little known syndrome where one has just seen some truly amazing celluloid and then sits down to a simple comedy made for folks who just need a light-hearted romp and tries to excrete an equal amount of depth. He completely overlooks the movie he is watching and instead reviews his bias towards "deep art".
"Fool's Gold" is a comical break from the day to day running around. Well done, well paced and exactly what it was intended to be. Take the kids,have some easy fun and relax.

Feb 10, 2008 07:22:12

Review 7 of 7

JamesBroad writes:

1of 4 Stars

Fool's Gold = pure f*cking garbage!

Feb 8, 2008 16:29:39