Only a Fool Can’t See Through Fool’s Gold

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson team up for the laziest movie of the season with Fool’s Gold, a movie about a recently-divorced couple who go on the search for treasure. And what’s sad is that the movie is lamer than its premise.

Hudson isn’t the best of actresses, so even though the script is pretty bad as is, she isn’t talented enough to elevate it to something more. Actually, if anything, she demotes its poor quality. McConaughey and any of the notable actors in the movie (like Donald Sutherland and Ray Winstone) don’t make the movie any more tolerable.

The story is incredibly generic and formulaic. The writers don’t even bother to make an effort to make a joke or character with an infinitesimal amount of originality (which is merely nonexistent). The only way you could find this stuff to be fresh is if you’ve never seen a movie before. Ever. And even then, you would be skeptical that this is worth the $8.50 for a ticket.

If you were my friend, and I knew that you went to go see this, I’d be disappointed in you. Really.

Rating: 4/10

Comedy Show is the Highlight of a Slow Month

Whether you find Vince Vaughn’s taste in projects questionable, most people seem to come to the agreement that he can be really funny (when he wants to be) and that he’s very good at improvising during a scene. While he shines in Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show, he gives the spotlight to five stand-up comics that are brilliant in their own distinct voices, yet they remain unknown to the general public. This movie project, which gives these funnymen exposure and a chance to make a splash, forces Vaughn and crew to tour 30 American cities in 30 days.

The documentary offers more than just people who can make the audience laugh. These comedians are funny, observant, and insightful, and so are the small segments of the film about them as people, not performers. All of them have dreams and hopes that they aspire to. I won’t go into depth here, because it’s surprising to see who ends up being sensitive and who does his dirty (but humorous) act for the sake of his family.

The comics are great, as I’ve said, but the special guests are also hilarious. Vaughn gets a hold of friends like John Favreau (Swingers), Justin Long (Dodgeball, Accepted), and Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story), who all participate in improv routines.

Vaughn resists turning the movie into a vanity piece and, although he has some great scenes, comes off as very humble. (Reportedly, he bought the rights to the movie from Harvey Weinstein, the former head of Miramax, when Vaughn didn’t think he was handling the film properly.) If you haven’t seen any of the great films still in theaters, this is the movie to see this week.

Rating: 8/10