If there was any doubt the McConnaissance is way over, this year has put it to bed emphatically. Both of Matthew McConaughey's movies this year have been disasters. Free State of Jones was a dud, and The Sea of Trees has only $14K after two weeks. Ouch. But there's potential on the horizon with Gold, a treasure-hunting drama from writer/director Stephen Gaghan (Syriana) that looks like a real winner.
Based loosely on the 1993 Bre-X mining scandal, the film finds McConaughey as Kenny Wells, an unlucky prospector who teams up with an archaeologist (Edgar Ramirez) to find gold deep in the jungles of Borneo. The discovery makes Kenny a very wealthy man and he indulges in the lifestyle with his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), until the FBI get involved and the whole thing comes tumbling down. The vibe of this one is a little bit American Hustle, a little bit Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and that's a pretty cool combination if there ever was.
Also starring Toby Kebbell (Seriously, is he in everything this year?), Corey Stoll, Timothy Simons, and Bruce Greenwood, Gold opens Christmas Day.
