Rating: 3.5/5
The latest flick featuring our shirtless cowboy, Matthew McConaughey, has an almost disturbing difference to the toned Texan we grew accustomed to in Magic Mike. Set during the decline of mineral mining, Gold is loosely based on the true story of the 1993 Bre-X mining scandal, where a large gold deposit was allegedly discovered in the Indonesian jungle. For legal reasons, and to enrich the plot of the film, this storyline was set a decade earlier, during the ‘80s, with names and specific events changed.
Gold features an overweight and alcoholic Kenny Wells (McConaughey) who is down on his luck in the gold mining business. Enter the suave Venezuelan, Edgar Ramirez, who plays geologist Michael Acosta, and you’ve got yourself a dynamic duo. Wells is on a downwards spiral, working from the bar where his girlfriend works and sleeping together in her single bed. Wells is trying to sell his idea of a gold deposit in the previously unexplored Indonesian jungle when he hears about geologist Michael Acosta. Acosta had previously found one of the largest copper deposits in the world. Rumours of the Indonesian gold deposit begin to circulate. Acosta and Wells’s hunt for the gold is filled with intrigue.
From the get-go, I knew this film wouldn’t be a universal crowd pleaser. The opening scene featured a mind-numbing description of the mineral prospecting process that left me scratching my head. Gold also felt eerily familiar, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until the ultimate alcohol fuelled breakdown and I realised that it was very similar to The Wolf of Wall Street—minus the perpetually handsome DiCaprio. However, Gold still managed to hold its own through action scenes set in the Indonesian jungle.
Although the film featured some ‘edge of your seat’ moments, it lagged in parts where knowledge of the mining business was probably a necessity, although Gold also features a sprinkling of stunning aerial shots of Indonesia.