'Gold' Doesn't Pan Out
Matthew McConaughey fattens up as a portly prospector
Rating: R
Run time: 2 hours 1 minute
Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Matthew McConaughey, Edgar Ramirez
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Does a bold performance by a potbellied, thin-haired Matthew McConaughey give you reason enough to see the financial thriller Gold? Normally I'd say yes. But even the spellbinding Oscar winner can't perform alchemy on this movie's meandering and flabbily directed script.
Based on the true story of a scam that bilked investors of billions, Gold introduces us to a hapless prospector named Kenny Wells (McConaughey), who is about to lose everything after a decade of looking for lode in all the wrong places. On a hunch, he invests his last dime in an expedition launched by a fellow prospector, Michael Acosta (Hands of Stone star Edgar Ramirez), who's absolutely positive there's gold in them thar hills — of remote Indonesia.