Fool's Gold Rises Above Its Script

June 14, 2008

Try as I might, I just can't muster up the energy to hate Matthew McConaughey. Actually, I like the guy. He seems like a man's man. A guy you would enjoy hanging out with watching football or playing golf.

Which is why I actually enjoyed the new romantic comedy, Fool's Gold, which debuts on DVD Tuesday.

McConaughey plays a treasure hunter named Finn, who stumbles onto a major discovery on the day he's getting divorced from his wife, played by the radiant, charming, funny and extremely likable Kate Hudson.

Finn is a screw-up. A man who is late for his own divorce hearing -- mind you, nearly being killed on the way to it is a good excuse, but his soon-to-be-ex doesn't want to hear another excuse out of him. Still, the two of them were once very much in love and worked together to find a lost treasure called the Queen's Dowry. Turns out, Finn may have actually discovered a piece of it.

Hudson's character just wants to move on. She has taken a job aboard a luxury yacht, whose owner (played by Canadian Donald Sutherland) has problems of his own -- a Paris Hilton-esque daughter who is tabloid fodder and about as deep as a bowl of rice pudding.

Finn, being a man who just can't take no for an answer, weasels his way onto the yacht and tries to get the wealthy businessman to fund one last hunt for the dowry.

From there, you can pretty much write the script.

There's a gangster named Bigg Bunny who wants Finn dead and another treasure hunter, played by Ray Winstone, trying to find the dowry first. But they're there solely to move the plot along and help drive the wayward couple back into each other's arms.

McConaughey and Hudson have undeniable chemistry together. It isn't much of a leap to imagine these two being together for real. They are also good comedic actors, verbally jousting with each other in several playful scenes. But

they're also able to bring a sense of believability to their tender moments and convey the unspoken heartbreak that underlies their current relationship.

Andy Tennant does a good job directing this piece. It's quick (112 minutes), well-paced, amusing in the right places, thoughtful and affectionate in others and the two leads put in strong performances in a paint-by-numbers script that won't have anyone in the audience questioning what comes next. The fact the film rises above its script is testament to the work of the actors and director.

As for the extras on the DVD, there's a making-of featurette, a look at the chemistry between McConaughey and Hudson (who previously starred opposite each other in the rom-com How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) and a gag reel.