I need to preface this review by saying that I am a huge Matthew McConnaughey fan.
I loved his rom com days in movies like ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’. I loved him as the ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ and in ‘A Time to Kill’ (Both great novels by John Grisham) .
I applauded his choices when he lost a mountain of weight to play Ron Woodroff and became a serious actor winning an Oscar for the ‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’.
I admired his versatility again by being able to switch and entertain us all in ‘Magic Mike’.
Yet the Matthew McConnaughey you see in ‘Gold’ is Matthew as you’ve never seen him before. In this film he plays down on his luck mining company owner, Kenny Wells.
McConnaughey’s Kenny is overweight and sweaty, with a receding hair line and yet he still has the confidence to take one last roll of the dice to try and turn his mining company’s fortunes around. He also still has the confidence to parade around shirtless at every turn in true Matthew McConnaughey style.
‘Gold’ was directed by Steven Gaghan of ‘Traffic’ and ‘Syriana’ fame.
In the film he casts his lens back to the recession of the 80’s where companies were going bust and greed was good..
We first meet Kenny Wells speaking to his Dad, Craig T Nelson (TV series Coach). The bond between the two is clear to see. Kenny’s grandfather and father have carved out their share of the mountains in Reno, Nevada and created a successful mining company, Washoe Mining.
Fast forward to the late ‘ 80’s and Kenny and a few of his loyal employees are working from a bar and down to their last few nickels.The only gleam of brightness in his life comes from loyal girlfriend Kaylene, played beautifully by Bryce Dallas Howard.
Kenny is a prospector with no prospects, until he has a vivid dream which prompts him to pawn all their possessions and fly to Indonesia to find Michael Acosta ( Edgar Ramirez) who is a legend in mining circles for discovering copper deep in the Indonesian jungle.
The brooding Mike and Kenny become partners, then friends. In the jungle the story becomes a buddy movie with both Acosta and Wells relentless in their pursuit of gold.
It’s the start of roller-coaster ride for Kenny and Mike as other mining companies and even Indonesian President Suharto try to muscle in on the act. Any more detail will only spoil things although it is worth mentioning there are several funny scenes as Kenny and Mike court the President’s wayward son.
Gold 2017
Director: Steven Gaghan
Starring : Matthew Mc Connaughey, Bryce Dallas Howard , Edgar Ramirez, Corey Stoll , Toby Kebbell
Running Time: 2 hours and 1 minute
Rated : R
In Cinemas: February 2nd , 2017
Michelle Beesley is a Brisbane born and bred former primary school teacher. A wife, proud grandma and mother of three grown sons, Michelle is thrilled to have recently published her debut contemporary romance novel, It Happened in Paris, with Serenade Publishing. Her novella – Escape to D’ Amour was published in 2019. Michelle’s work can be found in the anthologies – Destination Romance and Short & Sweet. When not reading or writing Michelle can be found at a coffee shop chatting with friends, front row at a fashion show, or beside a rugby union field cheering on her favourite teams.
Michelle is a reluctant traveller, Francophile, keen walker and avid yoga enthusiast plus a book, film and theatre lover who loves everything pink and sparkly (including champagne). You can find Michelle on instagram @michellebeesley_writer and her website: michellebeesley.com.
Leave a Reply