Set in 1988 and loosely based on a true story, Kenny Wells – a washed-up prospector on a last ditch attempt to change his fortune teams up with a renowned geologist in a bid to fulfil a life-long dream… to find Gold. Matthew McConaughey stars as the leading role, some critics judged his performance as his worst to date, read on to find out what we thought.
Kenny is down-on-his-luck and broke when his family’s oil mining business – passed down to him by his late father – goes bankrupt. Having lost everything his partner Kay (Bryce Allan Howard) is the only one who believes in him, she is Kenny’s rock. Worn down by his wanderlust to make it rich she wants him to start being realistic, get a regular job and give up his quest to find gold.
Late one night, the broken Kenny has a vision and learns of lost gold buried in the Jungle of Borneo. The legend of renowned Geologist Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramírez ) who discovered a copper fortune makes Kenny certain that his theory will work. After some deliberation Kenny manages to raise enough cash to fly out to Indonesia, find the geologist and convince him to locate the bounty hidden in the jungle. Edgar Ramírez offers a great performance as the mad-cap scientist and compensates for perhaps less successful characterisation by McConaughey.
On a positive point the relationship between the pair is what carries the film. We see both men pushed to their wits-end after many failures and misadventures. A defining sequence captures Kenny contracting Malaria (almost costing him is life) and a battle to save their cash-strapped digs. The humour of their struggles as they put their reputations on the line and risk it all to make their dreams become a reality makes for a fun ride.
The choppy story structure may put some audiences off but this could be due to the fact it was written by two different screen writers. This is one seriously over-complicated plot-line and there’s absolutely no need for it. Always a pleasure to watch, McConaughey deserves applause for putting in his all and he’s boosted by a stellar supporting cast including Brian Wolfe (Corey Stoll,) Paul Jennings (Tony Kebbell) and Racheal Taylor, (Rachel Hill) all of whom offer brilliant performances.
All in all the film is a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. Underneath the action lies a simple theme of enduring friendship wrapped up in a journey to win against extreme odds. At the climax the duo finally get lucky as they stumble across the largest goldmine ever discovered, and their blood, sweat and tears pay off with a satisfying conclusion.
Although it’s not a factual movie you will be inspired to research the real story after watching. It’s this link to past history that redeems any of the uninteresting scenes that crop up. Sadly there’s not enough fluidity in the story direction to make it a real winner. Our final conclusion? You’ll only watch it once.
Author: Paul, York store
