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Fool's Gold (2008)

Director: Andy Tennant

Time Out rating

Average user rating

15 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Andy Tennant’s Caribbean treasure-hunt comedy uses ‘Romancing the Stone’ as a rough template for Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey to rub each other up as a recently divorced couple whose obsession with a sunken eighteenth-century Spanish galleon full of golden booty is reignited when McConaughey’s penniless Finn finds a submerged china plate bearing a Spanish inscription.

Equally broke, Hudson’s Tess now works as a deckhand for Donald Sutherland’s frightfully English billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, currently holidaying with his dim daughter aboard his super yacht. Having lost his (and Tess’s) boat to the sea in the opening credits, opportunist Finn sees a chance to rope in some help and contrives a meeting with Honeycutt, who warms to Finn’s salty charms. But just as the treasure hunt resumes, caricatured gangster Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart) gets wind of it all and throws a large spanner into the works…

We’ve all seen this kind of scenario in umpteen treasure trovers, yet what makes ‘Fool’s Gold’ at least vaguely watchable is the presence of Hudson, who shares many of her mother Goldie Hawn’s more likeable comedic skills. It’s the badly timed pratfalls that bother most: aside from one laugh-out-loud moment involving Hudson thwacking McConaughey across the head with a borrowed walking stick, they are almost universally insipid. Yes, the formulaic script is often laughable and overly convoluted; yes, it takes a while to adjust to Sutherland’s Blighty accent; and yes, Ray Winstone is badly miscast as a Yank. But, for some unfathomable reason, I succumbed to the very occasional charms of this fair, good-natured romcom adventure and left the screening in quite a good mood.

Author: Derek Adams

Time Out London Issue 1965: April 17 - 23, 2008

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User reviews of this film

gemma said...

Posted on May 04 2008 21:46 Vry Vry Gd!! LOL!

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EMMA said...

Posted on Apr 28 2008 14:18 Very average. Nice looking people, nice scenary but I exected it to be a romantic comedy but it wasn't funny and there wasn't much romance in it either. One of those easy watch , forgettable straight to video films. not worth £7.40.

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Nicola said...

Posted on Apr 27 2008 15:00 Great film

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betamax said...

Posted on Apr 25 2008 19:53 hmmm just any usual treasure film rubbish really

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m said...

Posted on Apr 25 2008 16:26 i might c this film do u think its worth it?????

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j said...

Posted on Apr 24 2008 19:46 entertainment value = 4 stars
kate hudson - max stars!!!!!!!!!

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mossy said...

Posted on Apr 24 2008 10:46 A good film but was a bit to long and confusing but still a good film

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phoebe filmbuff said...

Posted on Apr 24 2008 05:19 I've escaped from studying for my Highers ... Any film would have been good , but Kate turned my night out into a holiday !! It's a great mid-week Caribbean vacation! Must buy the DVD ...

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hanna said...

Posted on Apr 23 2008 07:51 hanna wants 2 c the film coz she thinks all the men r fit ha ha ha

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April said...

Posted on Apr 22 2008 23:32 Really boring, no point to half of the characters, dragged on way longer than it needed to. Story about background to treasure was confusing and also too long. Do not listen to other reviews, you will regret wasting time and money by going to the cinema.

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mary o said...

Posted on Apr 22 2008 19:35 this is a great film

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mary from inverurie said...

Posted on Apr 21 2008 12:36 Enjoyed this fun film- relaxing entertainment

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will said...

Posted on Apr 19 2008 15:06 its fantastic

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kyle said...

Posted on Apr 19 2008 15:05 it is a graet fantastic comedy for young teens

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Apr 19 2008 03:59 the deep meets pirates of the caribbean ,but the main attraction is a raw chemical chemistry between matthew-hudson ,and that too when they are together-they exchange some witty dialogue as the estranged divorced couple in a battle of sexes .
the plot about a hunt for a sunken spanish treasure is hokum but the comedy ,action and the leads along with the father daughter duo ,sutherland and honeycutt are enjoyable and keep you sitting with some brilliant color photography and underwater stunts .
the afro caribean caricatures are irritating and the narrative is slack,
the dialogues are good to bad and the only cosistency is kate-matt looking good -matthew has a personal trainer now ,he has a 6 pack and parades around in shorts for most of his screen time .
kate bemoans the lack of great sex they had as a couple but they never get down to it,
honeycutt is delightful and charming as a clever ,exuberant bimbo and makes you laugh .
a subplot with the 2 gay chefs is rather dull and forced and uneven ,
this is routine hollywood formula that works some times and is flat at others .
if you are fond of kate -matthew like me ,as they are talented,well shaped physical specimen -you will find this a risible effort .otherwise wait for dvd .

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