Cinema de Gym: 'Fool's Gold'

Kurt here with another round of Movies and Muscle. Flicks and Flexing. Celluloid and Deltoids. (I'm stopping, I'm stopping.) Today we have Fool's Gold, a frothy, summery dish and the unofficial sequel to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Released in 2008, this treasure-hunting rom com was to be the Runaway Bride or You've Got Mail for the beloved, if overestimated, duo of Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, whom, for brevity purposes, we'll refer to herein as Hudsoghey. Sadly, this well-meaning-lark-with-an-asking-for-it-title wound up even less successful than those other films, basically just serving as further proof of the lightning-only-strikes-once rule.

From what I gathered, Hudsoghey play husband-and-wife golddiggers who dive for sunken relics in what is either The Bahamas or an especially tropical-looking part of Florida (I swear I heard “Florida” in there somewhere). When I entered, wife was in the process of divorcing (a characteristically absent) hubbie, complaining about his incessant immaturity, but making a point to repeatedly emphasize his incredible sexual prowess. The visions she inspires seem to be the key fantasy this movie is trying to sell, and since no part of my snippet featured the requisite shirtless McConaughey, her words were doubly effective. (Not that they were ever in short supply, but McConaughey fantasies do seem to abound lately, what with that whole Justin Bartha “McConaughnuts” thing.)

Not part of what I saw

I couldn't pinpoint where I was in terms of the film's running time, but the sense of the divorce's impermanence was practically immediate, with Hudson second-guessing the Hudsoghey split. Enter Ray Winstone, Kevin Hart and President Snow himself, Donald Sutherland, who, if memory serves, play a fellow treasure man, a gangster and a rich tycoon, respectively. All are in search of a precious batch of Spanish artifacts, which Hudson seems to know the most about given her secret scholarly interests. When I stepped off my machine and headed for the door, she looked primed to literally dive back in, if not for love, then for love of ancient baubles.

Hudson as closet bookwormI liked the on-vacation vibrancy of the movie's visuals, which is pretty well-conveyed in that artificial-bronzer poster. I also like that I'm starting to get a beat on my gym's screening trends. They like McConaughey, especially when he's gallivanting around atmospheric locales with pretty ladies whose passions don't quite jive with their bombshell looks. Previously shown was Sahara, which features Penelope Cruz as some sort of a scientist.

But that's another post...

Conclusions?

1. Even if the movie's a dud (and even if her character's implausible), Hudson's pretty reliable when it comes to exuding that sunshine she inherited.
2. Hudsoghey likely won't be having a third go at it.
3. Sunny surroundings can give a major boost to films that are doomed to sink.
4. Fictional supercouples like Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling would probably be wise to learn from the Fool's Golds of the world: best to keep that (note)book closed.

Is there an onscreen flame you'd like to see rekindled?