Fool's Gold (2008 film)

Infobox Film
name = Fool's Gold


image_size =
caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Andy Tennant
producer = Donald De Line
writer = John Claflin
Daniel Zelman
Andy Tennant
narrator =
starring =Matthew McConaughey
Kate Hudson
Alexis Dziena
Ewen Bremner
Ray Winstone
and
Donald Sutherland
music =
cinematography = Don Burgess
editing = Troy Takaki
Tracey Wadmore-Smith
distributor = Summit Entertainment (distributor), Warner Bros. Pictures (co-distributor)
released = February 8, 2008
runtime =
country = United States
language = English
budget = $70 Million
gross = "Domestic:"
$70,231,041
"Worldwide:"
$110,550,920
"Rental Gross:"
--
"DVD Sales:"
--
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:358220
imdb_id = 0770752

"Fool's Gold" is an 2008 adventure/romance film from Warner Bros. Pictures about a married couple who rekindle their romantic life while searching for a lost treasure. The film was directed by Andy Tennant and reunites the "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. The MPAA rated the film PG-13 for action violence, some sexual material, brief nudity and language.

Plot synopsis

Benjamin "Finn" Finnegan (Matthew McConaughey) is a treasure hunter looking for a treasure from a Spanish galleon known as the "Aurelia", that was lost at sea with the 1715 Treasure Fleet. In his search to find the treasure, his wife, Tess (Kate Hudson) divorces him. Tess has been working as a steward on a huge yacht owned by multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland). Finn finds a clue to the location of the treasure and manages to get on Honeycutt's yacht "The Precious Gem" and convince him, his daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena) and Tess to join him in searching for the treasure. A local gangster named Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart) and Finn's mentor Moe Fitch (Ray Winstone) are intent on finding the treasure first.

The Precious Gem and Moe's vessel compete to find the treasure in The Bahamas. As Finn attempts to secretly take down Moe's search grid, Finn discovers a sword which is a clue to finding the treasure. Finn and Tess follow the clues to an ancient church and discover a grave containing a diary describing the location of the treasure. Bigg Bunny and his associates, who have been following Finn and Tess, take Tess hostage and assume (incorrectly) that Finn was killed. Bigg Bunny forces Tess to aid him in the search for the treasure in a blowhole, the location revealed in the diary. Tess finds the treasure in a cave beneath the blowhole. Meanwhile, Finn and the Honeycutt enlist the help of Moe in taking the treasure out of Bigg Bunny's hands. They arrive as Bigg Bunny sends one of his associates to bring him the treasure, and the other to take out Moe as he swim towards Bigg Bunny's floatplane. The blowhole kills Bigg Bunny's employee and traps Tess and Finn, while Moe tries to stop Bigg Bunny from taking off. Finn saves Tess only to have Bigg Bunny kidnap her from him again. Gemma gets Finn to Bigg Bunny's plane on her personal water craft and Finn leaps on the planes pontoon as the plane takes off. As Bigg Bunny attempts to shoot Finn, Tess kicks Bigg Bunny out of the plane and sends him into the ocean. The final Bigg Bunny employee, is taken prisoner by Moe (after he has shot Moe in the leg with a speargun).

Finn and Tess are reunited and save the treasure together. Finn, Tess, Nigel, Gemma, Moe and those who contributed in helping or finding the treasure open a museum displaying all of their finds.

Cast

*Matthew McConaughey - Ben 'Finn' Finnegan
*Kate Hudson - Tess Finnegan
*Donald Sutherland - Nigel Honeycutt
*Alexis Dziena - Gemma Honeycutt
*Ray Winstone - Moe Fitch
*Kevin Hart - Bigg Bunny
*Ewen Bremner - Alfonz
*Brian Hooks - Curtis
*Malcolm-Jamal Warner - Cordell
*Roger Sciberras - Andras

Production

Warner Bros. and director Andy Tennant planned to shoot the film in the Caribbean, but decided on Queensland because the hurricane season in the Caribbean was likely to stall production of the film. The Key West scenes were filmed in Port Douglas. Filming also took place in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Lizard Island, Airlie Beach, and Hervey Bay. Scenes were also filmed at Batt Reef, where Steve Irwin died from a stingray barb in 2006.cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4382734a1860.html |title=Behind-the-seas dangers in Hudson, McConaughey movie |accessdate=2008-02-09 |date=2008-02-01 |publisher=Fairfax New Zealand]

Inside scenes were shot on a sound stage at the Warner Bros studio facility and the actors and crew stayed in luxury homes and apartments on the Gold Coast. McConaughey mentioned having a python in the backyard of his house in Port Douglas. McConaughey said, "There were other days like the day we went out diving and swam with a dugong, which was very cool."

Two crew members were stung by Irukandji jellyfish during filming, so some of the water scenes were shot in the Caribbean because the actors were so frightened.

The Precious Gem luxury motor yacht in the movie is called the Keri Lee in real life. It was designed by yacht architect Ward Setzer of Setzer Design Group #REDIRECT www.setzerdesign.com and originally named Status Quo. It is owned and operated by Lee Group Charters. [http://www.leegroupcharters.com.au Retrieved 2008-02-09]

Critical reception

The film received vastly negative reviews from critics. As of March 2, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 10% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 110 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009167-fools_gold/ |title=Fool's Gold - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2008-03-02 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 29 out of 100, based on 28 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/foolsgold |title=Fools Gold (2008): Reviews |accessdate=2008-03-02 |publisher=Metacritic]

Several critics compared the film unfavorably to "National Treasure" and "Romancing the Stone".. Some critics referred to the film as "tedious"cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=10326 |title=Fool's Gold Movie Review - Fool's Gold Movie Trailer - The Boston Globe |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Wesley Morris |date=2008-02-08 |work=Boston Globe] and "listless."

Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film zero stars out of 4 and said "Paris Hilton's appalling" "The Hottie and the Nottie" is "marginally better." Travers wrote "I defy any 2008 comedy to be as stupid, slack and sexless" as "Fool's Gold".cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/14584363/review/18349995/fools_gold |title= Fool's Gold : Review : Rolling Stone |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Peter Travers |date=2008-02-07 |work=Rolling Stone]

Lou Lumenick of the "New York Post" gave the film 1 star out of 4 and called it "excruciatingly lame." Lumenick said "It's all basically an excuse to show off the scenery", including McConaughey's abs.cite web|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/02082008/entertainment/movies/abs_olutely_horrendous_345337.htm |title=ABS-OLUTELY HORRENDOUS - New York Post |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Lou Lumenick |date=2008-02-08 |work=New York Post]

Carrie Rickey of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" gave the film 1 1/2 stars out of 4 and said it "plays like a Three Stooges movie with scuba gear.", but that "a Three Stooges movie is enlightened next to this one." Rickey described McConaughey as "perennially shirtless" and Hudson as "peculiarly mirthless."cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/carrie_rickey/20080208_Glitter__yes__but_golden__no.html |title=Glitter, yes; but golden, no |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Carrie Rickey |date=2008-02-08 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer]

Pete Vonder Haar of "Film Threat" gave the film 1 1/2 stars and said "the resolution is never in doubt, the villains are comedic rather than menacing, and no one involved seems to care one way or the other that their names are attached to this indifferent mess." Vonder Haar said McConaughey plays Finn "as "Sahara"'s Dirk Pitt minus the SEAL training and a few million brain cells." and asked "Does McConaughey have some codicil in his contract stipulating he must spend at least 51% of a movie shirtless?"cite web|url=http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10756 |title=FOOL'S GOLD |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Pete Vonder Haar |date=2008-02-09 |work=Film Threat]

Sid Smith of the "Chicago Tribune" gave it 2 stars out of 4 and said the characters "are comic book clichés." Smith said "the outcome is predictable" and "The wasted talents include Sutherland, affecting a hokey British accent, and hatchet-faced Ewen Bremner."cite web|url=http://chicago.metromix.com/movies/movie_review/movie-review-fools-gold/300618/content |title=Recalling older, funnier romantic comedies |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Sid Smith |date=2008-02-06 |work=Chicago Tribune]

Brian Lowry of "Variety" said "The lure of Matthew McConaughey shirtless for extended stretches doubtless has some marketing value, but after that, "Fool's Gold" offers small compensation." Lowry wrote "At times the pic feels like a comedic version of "The Deep", only without the comedy." Lowry said the tropic scenery was well-shot but said "there's not much chemistry" between McConaughey and Hudson.cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117936030.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 |title=Fool's Gold Review |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Brian Lowry |date=2008-02-03 |work=Variety]

Carina Chocano of the "Los Angeles Times" called it a "cheesy, familiar bore" and said it "feels at times like a third-rate Bond movie set to a Jimmy Buffett album." Chocano said "Hudson is the best thing about the movie. She has a likable, grounded presence and sharp comic timing."cite web|url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-fools8feb08,0,5770684.story |title='Fool's Gold' - MOVIE REVIEW - Los Angeles Times - calendarlive.com |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Carina Chocano |date=2008-02-08 |work=Los Angeles Times]

Nathan Rabin of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a "C+" and called it "the kind of thing people watch because it's the in-flight movie." Rabin called the repeated mentions of Finn's sexual prowess "a delightfully unnecessary move." Rabin said the film "outstays its welcome by a good 20 minutes" and called it "extravagantly stupid", but that the film's strengths were the "photogenic locales, obscenely beautiful stars, a laid-back soundtrack" and an unwillingness to take itself seriously.cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/cinema/fools_gold |title=Fool's Gold |accessdate=2008-03-02 |author=Nathan Rabin |date=2008-02-07 |work=The A.V. Club]

Lou Lumenick said the ending was "surprisingly bloody" and Brian Lowry said the ending is "a little more violent than necessary" and "a bit grittier than it should be tonally, as if we've detoured into a different movie."

Simon Braund of "Empire" magazine gave the film 1 star out of 5 and called it "Absolute tosh. A ridiculous, unerringly tedious plot is weighed down by listless performances from a cast who clearly wished they were somewhere else, despite the sumptuous location."cite web
url=http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=135363
accessdate=2008-04-10
title=Empire Reviews Central - Review of Fool's Gold]

Box office performance

The film was released February 8, 2008 in the United States and Canada and grossed $21.5 million in 3,125 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=foolsgold.htm |title=Fool's Gold (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results |accessdate=2008-02-12 |publisher=Box Office Mojo] As of June 2, 2008, the film has grossed over $109.2 million worldwide — $70.2 million in the United States and Canada and $39 million in other territories.cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=foolsgold.htm |title=Fool's Gold (2008) |accessdate=2008-04-06 |publisher=Box Office Mojo]

DVD release

"Fool's Gold" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 17, 2008.Fact|date=May 2008 It was presented in anamorphic widescreen with a English-language 5.1 digital surround soundtrack. The extras for the DVD include Flirting with Adventure McConaughey-Hudson chemistry featurette, and a gag reel. "Fool's Gold" was released on R4 Australian DVD on June 5, 2008.

References

External links

* [http://foolsgoldmovie.warnerbros.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0770752|title=Fool's Gold
*rotten-tomatoes|id=10009167-fools_gold|title=Fool's Gold
*metacritic film|id=foolsgold|title=Fool's Gold
*mojo title|id=foolsgold|title=Fool's Gold
*amg movie|id=1:358220|title=Fool's Gold
* [http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/foolsgold/ Trailer] at Apple.com

Box Office Leaders USA
before =
date = February 10
year = 2008
after = Jumper