Inspired by the Bre-X scandal, it's 1988 Reno. Hard drinking Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) and girlfriend Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) are struggling. He's a lifelong wildcat prospector working for his respected father until his sudden death. With nothing left in business, he goes to Indonesia and connects with geologist Michael Acosta (Édgar Ramírez) who has a revolutionary theory. They head into the jungle and become gold mining legends.

I do remember Bre-X. Some of it came back to me along with the movie. I remember one of the reporters telling the story of a souvenir core sample. They handed out samples to reporters and investors. As the scandal broke, they went back to test those samples. I think there is a missing character. It needs an investigative reporter who uncovers the scandal. Kenny and Kay's breakup seems abrupt. The second half seems a bit rushed although the two hour running time probably forced some cutting. McConaughey may be trying too hard shooting for an award. There is a compelling character story here if not fully realized as a thriller.

I didn't follow the Bre-X scandal in detail when it broke in 1997. The first I heard of it was when their geologist fell from a helicopter. As the news came out and the massive reserves of gold vanished like fairy gold, it didn't affect me, since I avoid junior miners (exploration) and certainly try to avoid Indonesia; although my ban has continued out of habit and inability to figure the stock market there, back then the nation was run by Suharto for personal gain, and was famous for setting up cartels -- and busting them for its own profit. It isn't just caveat emptor. It's don't empt at all.

So when Matthew McConaughey shows up in this one, bald and with a paunch, it was clear to me that he wished he had been in American Hustle. Naturally the names, nations and stock exchanges are changed to protect the guilty. Although it annoys the heck out of me whenever a movie comes out "Inspired by true facts" and every detail has been changed (Newmont Mining is referred to by name early on; later, when the company turns villainous, it becomes "Newmark Mining", and in any case, it was Barrick in reality; Bre-X was never on the NYSE, but it was on the Toronto Exchange, etc. etc.). Nonetheless, if you accept the fact that these guys pulled a fraud on the stock-buying public, and it's the analysts' fault because they shouldn't have been hoodwinked, it's an entertaining movie.

"Gold" is an American movie in the English language from 2016 and the most recent directorial effort by Oscar-winning writer Stephan Gaghan. He was not in charge of the screenplay this time, but the script is by Emmy nominees Massett and Zinman. It runs for pretty much two hours exactly and Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey is basically in every scene during these 120 minutes. I must say I enjoyed the watch pretty much, even if the formula behind the film is more simple than it may seem. It's basically all about the ups and downs of the protagonist. Up#1: He is having a great job at a prestigious prospector mostly thanks to his dad. Down#1: His dad is dead and he is low on money not finding any investors. Up#2: He reunites with a partner in an attempt to find gold. Down#2: He suffers from malaria and the workers leave. Up#3: The workers return, they find gold and he is healthy again. Down#3: A rich company uses its political connections to "steal" all the gold. Up#4: With the help of a politician's son, he manages to get the gold back and also receives a prestigious award. Down#4: It all proves to be a scam and the protagonist is a victim just like everybody else, except his partner. Up#5: The fact that there will be no criminal proceedings apparently and the final letter.

So yeah, it's a roller coaster of emotions for McConaughey's character here and he gives a pretty strong performance that is deserving of awards attention too, though probably not as much as his Oscar-winning turn because the subject is also not really that significant by today's standards. As for the story, there may have been one or two plot twists too many eventually, but it's okay if you don't really look for extremely great depth or so. Not that there isn't any, but the film is at times just a bit for the sake of it and may take itself a tad too seriously. There are some comedy moments too with everything about the protagonist like the yellow roses scene. But McConaughey plays a really likable character I think and especially his private life when it comes to romance depicts him as somebody worth cheering for. He is dedicated, his name means more to him than money and he is also not scared of hard labor to reach his goals. The wrong decisions he makes perhaps really only result from people next to him that have a negative impact on him like the promiscuous journalist woman or Stoll's character. It's maybe accurate to describe the central character as a mix of a raccoon and King Midas in this story. I also think the last shot is really interesting as you can still debate if he was in it the whole time or just got lucky with his former partner sending him half of the money. Of course, he will not give it back, but at that point, if he wasn't in on it all the time, you like the character enough that you won't blame him for it. The film may not make a powerful statement on greed (like TWBB for example) even if it really wants to, but that's fine as it succeeds sufficiently in other areas instead, maybe even some where it did not really try to.

Anyway, after talking so much about McConaughey's character, let's also say a few words about Edgar Ramirez ("Carlos"). I quite like him and I think he did a great job with the character. This was pretty tough as his character makes pretty much the biggest waves when he is visually out of the picture, namely in the last 20 minutes, but I think Ramirez holds his own very well next to McConaughey despite not having great material to work with at all. And that means quite something as McConaughey's transformation from weak cheesy romance movie actor to one of Hollywood's finest is something that cannot be denied. Also some good supporting players in here like Keach and Nelson and even the annoying one from "Veep" was somewhat bearable here. Eventually, I would not say it is one of the best films of the year, but still worth checking out, especially if you like Matthew McConaughey. It is somewhat true that these days you cannot really go wrong with him. Alright, alright, alright, watch it!