Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Fool's Gold Blu-ray Movie Review

Even glittering stars can't make this a real treasure.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 4, 2011

Charisma is a valuable commodity in show business, but even those with it in large supply would probably tell you it can only do so much. Case in point: Fool’s Gold, a 2008 supposed “comedy” in the Romancing the Stone mold, with a bickering couple hot on the trail of untold riches. Stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, previously a winning team in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, are virtually textbook definitions of charisma, and yet even their screen presence washes up on the sandy shores of this film like little more than flotsam and jetsam. Fool’s Gold was probably a project that had everything a producer could ask for on paper, with a newly divorced couple rekindling their romance on the high seas as they competed to find a long sought after Spanish treasure, working to beat a gangster cum music star named BiggBunny who had previously employed McConaughey’s hapless character, Finn. What could be better than tropical locales, McConaughey and Hudson wearing skimpy clothing, and Donald Sutherland doing a fey British accent? Well, judging by the results on screen in Fool’s Gold, virtually anything. This is a film which wastes what little comic momentum it ever manages to achieve with a hopelessly contrived screenplay that has Hudson’s character Tess so repeatedly put in the same “perils of Pauline” straits that most viewers are going to wish they’d come down with a quick case of the bends, just so they had a good excuse to stop watching.

Sparring couples have been a staple of film since at least the talkies. Films like It Happened One Night showed the way for future filmmakers, and the smart ones tended to copy it to a tee. Get hopelessly attractive stars, have them play characters which mix like oil and water, put them in sexually charged situations, occasionally add a dash of danger, and watch the fireworks fly. Probably the best relatively recent example of this genre was the aforementioned Romancing the Stone, a film which managed to craft perfectly executed characters while developing an intriguing story that actually helped each of the characters reveal facets of themselves to the audience. Fool’s Gold is screenwriting shorthand, if even that, courtesy of a by the numbers scenario written by director Andy Tennant, along with John Claflin and Daniel Zelman. There are simply no jokes here, in fact little humor of any kind. One of the few laugh out loud moments is when Hudson off and whacks McConaughey across the head with a senior citizen’s cane, and that may be due only to the fact that the audience is hoping for some harm to come to the star pair, never a good sign.

It’s hard to say what exactly is wrong with Fool’s Gold, because this seems to be a project that had a lot, if not quite everything, going for it in pre-production. Is the fault that of director-cowriter Tennant? Probably, at least in part. Scenes dangle flaccidly, like a fishing line helplessly in search of a bite. After Hudson’s second or third kidnapping at the hands of the bad guys, the audience really ceases to care what kind of danger is going to rear its semi-ugly head next, because they already know nothing will come of it. The supposed sharp-tongued interplay between Hudson and McConaughey is also incredibly lame most of the time, echoing Hudson’s own line that McConaughey’s character is “useless” in “epic” proportions. Tennant has had a particularly spotty record as a director, helming misfires like another “Fool” film, Fools Rush In, while occasionally striking romantic comedy semi-gold (we won’t go the feldspar route for now) with films like Ever After, but he seems seriously off his A game throughout most of Fool’s Gold.

The only real calling card here is some lovely scenery and the lure of seeing McConaughey’s chiseled body and Hudson’s curves up close and personal. Sutherland, while goofy fun in a sort of Richard Branson (of Virgin fame) knockoff, is largely wasted, and his Valley Girl daughter (played by Alexis Dziena) is tacked on to the film like an afterthought. Kevin Hart and Ray Winstone never rise to the level of menace or even clumsiness which either a thriller or a comedy-thriller need to make villainy work. Everything seems rote, stale and really surprisingly unattractive in this film, something that must have taken some work, considering the built in allure of McConaughey and Hudson.

Fool’s Gold is an ironically named feature, for from a distance, it glitters with the promise of romantic revelry wrapped inside the sort of treasure hunt scenario that has more often than not struck real gold at the box office. Once you get up close to this film, though, you rather quickly realize you’ve been sold a fake, and once that happens, not even miles of McConaughey’s abs or Hudson’s bosom can erase the sinking feeling that the real fool is the audience, for having plunked down their hard earned cash to watch this kind of dreck.

Fool's Gold Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

You may be bored out of your mind by the story, angered that McConaughey and Hudson don't have more to work with, and wonder why every plot point is so predictable in Fool's Gold, but you won't have too much to complain about with this early days Blu-ray release from Warner. Encoded via VC-1, in 1080p and 2.41:1, Fool's Gold is more often than not gorgeous to behold, courtesy of some really lovely location shooting in and around Queensland. Brilliantly teal water glints against flashing yellow sunlight throughout large swaths of the film, and fine detail reveals every last ab in McConaughey's muscle bound torso. In fact colors throughout the film are often astoundingly well saturated and the entire film has the sort of pastel dreaminess that used to paint old episodes of Miami Vice with that sort of faux-Caribbean ambience. There are a few niggling artifacts to report, occasional shimmer and aliasing, but for an older Blu-ray release, this really looks quite good almost all of the time.

Fool's Gold Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As one of the earlier Warner catalog titles to receive a Blu-ray release, Fool's Gold does not have any lossless audio options. That's a real shame, considering the many fine and fun source cues utilized as underscore, but also because there is ample opportunity for that lossless "oomph," especially on the low end, throughout the film. All of that said, there's really not a whole bunch to complain about with the perfectly fine Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Surrounds are effectively utilized throughout the film, with good discrete sound effects well placed throughout the soundfield, and with all dialogue crisp and clear and easy to hear. There's actually a fair degree of dynamic range, as well as some decent LFE, throughout the film. Fidelity is excellent and balance between dialogue, effects and score is also expertly handled. Yes, lossless would have been better, but there are many other items about Fool's Gold you'll probably have listed higher on your complaint list than the lack of lossless audio.

Fool's Gold Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This bare bones early Warner release doesn't even have a main menu screen, so don't expect an overwhelming supply of supplements:

• Flirting With Adventure (SD; 4:36) is a brief tour of the "chemistry" between the two charismatic stars.
• Gag Reel (SD; 2:34) is another brief tour of the "lunacy" taking place on set.

Fool's Gold Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You'll probably want to like Fool's Gold more than you end up doing, but that's not your fault. This is a film which really should have sparkled, but it instead barely manages to rise above a dull shine now and then. McConaughey and Hudson are an incredibly attractive pair, but they simply have little to work with here in a misguided and trite screenplay. The locales are certainly lovely, and the scantily clad stars are also an eyeful, and for that reason alone you may want to give this an evening's rental.