3.5 stars. Rated R, for sexuality, nudity and considerable profanity
By Derrick Bang
This story has more ups and downs
than a merry-go-round ... and, like such amusement park attractions, any
semblance of an actual destination is mere illusion.
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| On the triumphant day that his company is admitted to the New York Stock Exchange, Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey, fist raised) jubilantly kicks off the morning trading, accompanied by girlfriend Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) and partner Mike Acosta (Edgar Ramírez, far left). |
Gold is inspired, and quite accurately, by the
1997 Bre-X Minerals Ltd. mining and stock fraud, which — in the wake of the
company’s collapse — became (and remains) one of Canada’s largest and most
embarrassing stock frauds, and history’s largest-ever mining scandal.
And all because “gold fever”
blinded far too many people to the most obvious set of checks and balances.
Scripters Patrick Massett and
John Zinman have changed names and moved the primary players from Canada to the
States. Even so, they follow events closely enough to raise eyebrows over their
failure to acknowledge two published accounts of the catastrophe — The Bre-X Fraud and Fool’s Gold: The Making of a Global Market Fraud — that must have
served as primary sources.
Matthew McConaughey stars as
Kenny Wells, the third-generation face of Washoe Mining, a family business
based in Reno, Nev. A prospector at heart, Kenny believes strongly in lineage,
and loves to wax eloquent about the grandfather who founded the company with
hard work and dirt under his fingers. But the story inevitably sounds rehearsed
and greased with a layer of snake oil, particularly when he’s trying to charm
investors.
Kenny also supplies occasional
off-camera narration to us viewers, to bridge time-shifts and plot gaps, but
McConaughey’s voice has the distinct aroma of self-justification. It’s clear,
pretty quickly, that Kenny probably isn’t a reliable narrator; he may relate
details accurately, but his complicity is open to serious question.
We meet him during a comfortable
period, as primary hustler for the company that his father still runs. Daytime
work is dominated by telephone pitches and the careful scrutiny of geological
surveys; hard-drinking evenings take place in the tavern where Kenny’s longtime
girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard), works as a waitress.
They’re an unlikely but comfortably
matched couple. She loves him unconditionally, having made peace with his
almost religious pursuit of dreams. He, in turn, relies on her stability and
support; she grounds him. Decked out
in 1980s-style big hair, and poured into the tight outfits with which
waitresses have long enhanced their tips, Howard is the pluperfect working gal
who adores her man.
The glow in her eyes is palpable,
whenever Kenny is around: We hope that he’ll never abuse her loyalty.
