The title Fools Gold gives away the sham of this new Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey romance. Playing divorced treasure hunters, theres never a moment where theyre asked to face the compatibility issues their eccentricities create. Thus, the movie forsakes its prime opportunity to be interesting. Were meant to love them simply because theyre idiots. I tried, but no thanks.
Armed with movie-names like Finn (short for the characters last name Finnegan---his first name is Benjamin) and Tess, Hudson and McConaughey team up to seek lost Spanish treasure in the Caribbean. They try to renew their spark when they end up on board the boat of Nigel Honeycutt (who you know is rich as hell because his first name is Nigel and his last name is Honeycutt), played by Donald Sutherland. Semi-adventurous escapades get paired with the stars semi-sexual tension. Finally: a relief for audiences who found Romancing the Stone just too heavy-going.
Most distracting is McConaughey, who has now abandoned his promising 90s-roles for the security of being typecast as the shirtless, half-baked, easygoing romantic comedy lust object. The ignorance that goes with these limitations stands out especially in Fools Gold, because the heroes are competing for riches against a violent hip-hop mogul named Big Bunny (Kevin Hart). This leads to McConaughey and Hudson fighting a cadre of rappers---a finale so inexplicable and indefensible Im surprised I didnt hallucinate it. The white privilege of romantic comedy takes a stand against the threat of gangsta rap.
On the voyage, Nigel reconnects with his socialite teenage daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena). Like the leads, they put aside their differences in the face of risk. In Fools Golds ideal world, everything gets homogenized and brought down to the same dumb level.
