Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The Movie Diorama An overused and tired formula, oh you know the one: "main character starts with nothing, soon earns everything and then loses it all". An extremely saturated trope where any new additions really need to standout. Unfortunately for Gold, it was too safe and uninteresting. Kenny Wells desires to become a prospector and run his own mining company, to which he sets off out to Indonesia to strike gold (quite literally...). All seems to be going well until major companies want a piece of the action where Kenny may gain even more money or lose it all. It's not often a biopic makes me feel conflicted, it's actually a genre I really appreciate and enjoy. An intriguing scandal brought to the big screen with safe directing, safe dialogue and a safe supporting cast. Everything about this felt safe, and ultimately that is its downfall. It becomes uninteresting, dull and actually rather ugly. Matthew McConaughey gives a committed performance and probably one of his better roles, just behind 'Dallas Buyers Club'. I'm still not a huge fan, but his method style of acting is unquestionably devoted. Edgar Ramirez certainly looked the part, same goes to Corey Stoll. But the supporting cast were wasted. Bland, uncharismatic and simply just a vehicle to boost McConaughey's performance. The jungles of Indonesia looked lavish and luscious. The third act alone saved this from being a mediocre borefest. It just hooked me immediately and I couldn't take my eyes off. A shame that the rest of the film couldn't maintain that sense of tension and grip. The story was just ugly. The greed of man, constantly revolving around money, business and stock. Unlikeable. Gold is just fine, I wasn't bored yet I wasn't entertained either. McConaughey and the third act just about push this to be classed as "good". Wouldn't watch it again in a hurry...

giuliocc-301-860698 Big budget, but an uninspiring story lead by Matthew McConaughey (MC). Just couldn't connect with the characters. There is nothing sophisticated about this film. MC is as usual, over acting, but this is what you sign up for when he leads. Supporting cast is great. Not sure why Bryce Dallas Howard's character is for as a love interest. Their relationship makes zero connection with the audience. A very long drawn out story with some minor climaxes. The plot is quite thin and the direction and editing do not bring the audience onboard. Overall a well made film, but the story is just not engaging and the characters forgettable.

alindsay-al This film had a big buzz going round it and I have now seen it and I have to be honest it was okay but quite underwhelming. The premise of the film sees a businessman get a last chance to find gold with an eccentric searcher. Now Matthew mcconaughey plays the lead in this film and he owns the screen, there is a clear physical transformation and it helps give him this presence on screen. He commits to this role and gives a great charismatic performance. Edgar ramirez plays his business partner in this film and his usual quite stoic performance works here as there dynamic does really work. Corey stoll also has a good role in the film providing some entertaining scenes. Bruce Dallas Howard plays mcconaughey's romance in the film and I just didn't find there relationship to be very interesting and really didn't need it in the film. Toby kebbell also has a really small role in the film and he was completely underutilised in this film. The first half of the film has an interesting story to it as you see these guys trying to build there project up and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I find the last act to be convoluted and all over the place so much that I lost interest in what was going on. The script has some humour in it that does work mixed with a bit of good drama. But there is also too much exposition that I still didn't understand and made the film overly Complex. The style of the film has some good scenes in it especially early when showing how the gold harvesting works. Though there really isn't anything really unique in the film and it does feel pretty run of the mill stuff. Overall this film is an okay but overall forgettable experience.

Michael Kleen (makleen2) Greed and obsession collide in Gold (2016), a gritty morality tale set in 1980s Nevada, Wall Street, and Indonesia. Matthew McConaughey plays Kenny Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break. He teams up with geologist Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramírez), and together they descend into the uncharted jungles of Indonesia hoping to find one big score. This poorly-advertised film almost escaped my notice, until I saw it playing at my local theater. I'm glad I took a chance on it. Gold is a solid film and surprisingly entertaining. Matthew McConaughey disappears into the role, achieving absolute rock bottom in body and spirit.Gold is loosely based on a true story. In 1995, a small Canadian mining company called Bre-X, owned by David Walsh, claimed to find a massive gold deposit deep in the Indonesian jungle on the Island of Borneo, near the Busang River. Filipino geologist Michael de Guzman and John Felderhof convinced Walsh to invest $80,000 to purchase and develop the gold mine.In 1997, Bre-X collapsed and its shares became worthless in one of the biggest stock scandals in Canadian history. On March 19, 1997, de Guzman committed suicide by jumping from a helicopter in Busang, Indonesia. An independent investigation of core samples from the mine determined de Guzman had been "salting" the samples with gold flakes, some from his own wedding ring. Walsh died of a brain aneurysm in the Bahamas in 1998, and in 2007, Felderhof was acquitted of securities charges. The scandal cost investors an estimated $3 billion.Gold follows Nevada prospector Kenny Wells, who inherited his father's company, Washoe Mining, in the early 1980s. Stress-induced alcoholism caused by the economic downturn leads him to sell the last of his jewelry and fly to Indonesia to meet geologist Michael Acosta. There he endures hardship and survives malaria. When he emerges from the illness, Acosta tells him he made what might be the largest gold discovery in history.Enter Mark Hancock (Bruce Greenwood) and the Wall Street tycoons who try to wrest control of the mine from Wells and Acosta. Wells refuses to budge, saying, "If you sell your dream, what do you have left?" Meanwhile, the overnight success destroys his relationship with longtime girlfriend Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) and strains his friendship with Acosta.Just before the fraud is revealed, Michael Acosta dumps his shares and disappears, leaving Wells to pick up the pieces and deal with angry investors and the FBI. FBI Agent Paul Jennings (Toby Kebbell) tells Wells that Acosta's body was found, eaten by wild boars, in the Indonesian jungle. I won't spoil the rest, suffice to say, the movie leaves Acosta's death open to interpretation.Directed by Stephen Gaghan, writer of Syriana (2005), Traffic (2000), and Havoc (2005), Gold looks and feels like American Hustle (2013) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), but a little more down-to-earth. Kenny Wells is believable and flawed. McConaughey sells him to the audience. We want his dream to come true as desperately as he does. It's not about the money, he argues, it's about the gold. By finding the mine and saving his family business, he will prove to himself and his long-departed father he's not a failure. Who doesn't understand that kind of motivation? I criticized Patriots Day (2016) for playing a little loose with the facts. After all, it was trying to dramatically portray actual events–events most of us watched unfold on television. Doesn't Gold suffer from the same problem? Not really. Although it's marketed as, "based on a too good to be true story," Gold never claims to be retelling history. Although there are times when it blurs that line, the characters are fictional, the company is fictional, the Wall Street tycoons are fictional. In that regard, it is more like American Hustle than The Wolf of Wall Street. While the Bre-X scandal rocked Canada, most Americans have probably never heard of it.In fact, screenwriters Patrick Massett and John Zinman were inspired to write the script after Massett saw an episode about the Bre-X scandal on a crime show. What seemed like a good idea for a movie turned into a screenplay inspired by, but not entirely based on, true events.Some critics have unfairly dismissed Gold as lackluster and uninspired. Granted, it's not a huge Hollywood production, but it has heart. Bryce Dallas Howard gives a good performance as Kenny Wells' girlfriend Kay, who seems enamored with Wells' enormous dreams but ultimately just wants to live a simple, quiet life. Though it flew under the radar, the film grossed $3.47 million in its opening weekend. It's definitely the best movie I've seen so far this year.