Sidewalks On The Corner

Stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson previously teamed on the romantic comedy smash 2003’s "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Can the one-time teaming bring treasure to the box office with FOOL’S GOLD?

Follow up:

FOOL’S GOLD
Warner Bros. Pictures
Directed by: Andy Tennant
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action violence, some sexual material, brief nudity and language.
Run Time: 112 Minutes
Official Site: www.foolsgoldmovie.com

SYNOPSIS:
Ben “Finn” Finnegan (Matthew McConaughey) is an affable, modern-day treasure hunter who is obsessed with finding the legendary 18th century Queen’s Dowry—40 chests of priceless treasure that was lost at sea in 1715. In his quest, Finn has sunk everything he has, including his marriage to Tess (Kate Hudson).

Just as Tess has begun to rebuild her life, working aboard a mega-yacht owned by billionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland), Finn discovers a vital clue to the treasure’s whereabouts. Much to Tess’ consternation, Finn maneuvers himself aboard Nigel’s yacht and, using his roguish charm, convinces the tycoon and his celebutante daughter, Gemma (Alexis Dziena), to join him in the pursuit of the Spanish riches. Even Tess can’t resist the lure of finally uncovering the treasure that had eluded them for so long.

But they are not the only ones after the prize. Finn’s one-time mentor, Moe Fitch (Ray Winstone), and a ruthless local gangster (Kevin Hart) are intent on beating Finn to the trove. Let the treasure hunt begin…

JUSTIN's TAKE
It's supposed to be a romantic/comedy/adventure, however, I didn't feel the love between Hudson and McConaughey. The comedy crashed and burned and the adventure really wasn't worth the ride. "Fool's Gold" is a lackluster knock off film that resembles classic movies such as "Romancing the Stone" and sequel "Jewel of the Nile," and it unfortunately missed the mark. In the beginning, the story drags on as if it had an anchor attached to it. It's slow to develop, which is not the bad part. The bad thing about this movie was the story itself. The failed love affair between Finn (McConaughey) and Tess (Hudson) felt fake and tacky. The only real interesting thing, which turned out to be the best thing about this film was the mystery surrounding a ship that sank between the 1500's and the 1700's, and the romantic sub plot it involves. The killer reggae soundtrack was also a plus.

The actors didn't have much to work with as far the character development is concerned. Matthew McConaughey seems to find his way into characters that are -- for lack of a better word -- "ding bats.” It looks like he's played this character before in films such as "Failure to Launch", where he also plays an immature, knuckle dragger without a brain. I'm kind of tired of seeing him in those roles. I miss him in films like "Contact" where his character was actually vital to the movie. I didn’t particularly care for Kate Hudson's acting skills either, some of her dialogue and comedy antics don't seem genuine enough for me to care; in fact, she was slightly annoying more than anything. Donald Sutherland ("Pride and Prejudice") was underused. His slightly interesting British accent added some charm to his character, billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, but he was expendable. Alexis Dzenia ("Broken Flowers") plays his daughter, the spoiled, dim witted, rich girl Gemma. She was cute and even funny to some extent, but that's about it. The other supporting roles were pretty much cartoon characters: Ray Winstone was almost non-existent, playing Moe Fitch, the one-time mentor to Finn; Kevin Hart playing the main villain Big Bunny; and Malcolm Jamal Warner (yes, Theo on The Cosby Show and one-time Sidewalks guest) as Cordell, one of the henchmen to Big Bunny. But you can't always blame the actors for their shortcomings, the script itself lacked some imagination. The dialogue was infantile and just plain drivel.

As I mentioned before the best thing about the film was the sub-story about the sunken ship, its lost treasure and the music soundtrack, filled with classic reggae music from Bob Marley and others. If the story was anything like "National Treasure" or classics like "Indiana Jones," I would have been willing to sit through the 112-minute misadventure, but I'm sorry it's not worth the ticket price. I would wait until it comes to DVD or The Dish.