Stephen Gaghan’s Gold certainly doesn’t tell a new story
but at least it does so in an entertaining manner. Based on the Bre-X Minerals scandal from the
1990’s, the film is propelled by a compelling, manic performance from Matthew
McConaughey; his good looks may be suffused by 40 extra pounds, a dental
appliance and his shaved head, but his charisma shines forth, giving us a
protagonist that, at times may be off-putting, but for whom we can’t help but
root for in his obsessive quest for gold.
The head of the Washoe Mining Corporation, Kenny Wells
(McConaughey) works tirelessly to convince investors to take a chance on his
latest scheme to plumb for gold. His latest endeavor revolves around Michael
Acosta (Edgar Ramirez), a renowned prospector known for finding big strikes in
out of the way places. Samples from his
latest find in Indonesia promises untold riches for those willing to take a
chance and Wells is eager to go even further.
Compelled by a dream he had, in which he says the gold was calling him,
he risks all he has and nearly dies of malaria when visiting the site to offer
encouragement to Acosta. His gamble pays
off as they hit the mother lode, a find estimated in excess of 10,000,000
ounces.
If you’ve seen one strike it rich movie, you know that moral
corruption is right around the corner for our hero and Wells proves to be a
world class boob where his supportive and lovely girlfriend (Bryce Dallas
Howard) is concerned and lets his pride get in the way of taking a $300,000,000
buyout offer, a decision he comes to regret when his bad behavior comes back to
haunt him.
Those unfamiliar with the Bre-X case will be in for a major
shock once the other shoe drops relating to this scheme and when this bad news
is delivered, the film’s pace and sense of mania goes into overdrive,
McConaughey matching this hysteria in his impassioned desperate
performance. His Wells is a hustler who
tells people what they need to hear to keep the wheels of his personal commercial
enterprise turning. A larger-than-life character, he doesn’t play just to win,
he plays to make history. As such, the
potential for great success is always there, as is the possibility of colossal
failure. McConaughey makes this modern P.T. Barnum a grandiose figure but he
never lets us forget there’s a good man beneath the bluff and bluster and his
ability to convey this is the catalyst for this film.
An interesting companion piece to last year’s The Big
Short in its portrayal of modern corporate greed, Gold delivers its oft-told
moral in an engaging, if somewhat pedestrian manner. In the end, it’s the image of Wells that
stays with you, a man whose mantra is “If you sell your dream, what do you have
left?” a notion only very few have the guts to live by
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2017.
