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This Week's PCR Movie Review |
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"Fool's Gold"
Movie review by: Movies are rated 0 to 4 stars
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MOVIE REVIEW "Fool's Gold" by Mike Smith | |||
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I don’t know what it is about some actors. No matter what role they’re playing, there is something under the surface that draws us to them. Take Matthew McConaughey. Good actor, great interview. And the first thing that hit me when I spoke with him a couple of years ago while he was promoting the film “Sahara” was the first thing that hits me when I see him on screen: this guy likes to have fun. Even when Steven Spielberg put him in those unsightly mutton chops during “Amistad,” I couldn’t help thinking “that has got to be the coolest lawyer in the colonies!” This week, McConaughey brings his fun-loving self to the new romantic comedy, “Fool’s Gold.”
Ben “Finn” Finnegan (McConaughey) and his partner are slowly exploring the waters near Key West, hoping to find any signs of an almost 300-year-old shipwreck and the treasures that were lost. Meanwhile, on a luxury yacht nearby, Tess (Hudson) is working as a steward and counting the days until her divorce is final. She has spent too much time and energy over the past eight years chasing her soon-to-be ex and his dreams of treasure and soon she will be rid of him forever. Her employer, Nigel Honeycutt (Sutherland) is that rare breed of multi-millionaire –- he cares about others. For Tess, he has arranged for his yacht to drop her off in Key West for her divorce hearing. Now if only her soon-to-be ex will show up.
A well-written and expertly-acted comedy, “Fool’s Gold” is the second pairing on screen of McConaughey and Hudson, and their chemistry makes them seem like they’ve been together forever. Think of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in “Romancing the Stone” and you’ll begin to get the picture. Two people searching for treasure against all odds still finding the time to fall in love (or, in this case, back in love). The rest of the cast performs just as well, with Sutherland and Alexis Dziena, who plays his ditzy, Paris Hilton-like daughter, earning many of the laughs. The beautiful locations are captured in all their glory, with bright blue skies and even bluer water. It’s like watching “The Deep” without Robert Shaw and that scary moray eel. The action scenes, including the exploration of a treasure-filled underwater cave, are also well done. The script, by Daniel Zelman and John Claflin, is top-notch romantic-comedy, which is doubly surprising considering their previous works together told the story of a giant snake and some super cockroaches!
But the number one draw here is McConaughey so head out to see him before he puts a shirt on! On a scale of zero to four stars I give “Fool’s Gold”
This week's movie review of "Fool's Gold" is ©2008 by Michael A. Smith. All graphics this page are creations of Nolan B. Canova, ©2008, all rights reserved. All contents of "Nolan's Pop Culture Review" are ©2008 by Nolan B. Canova.