Ring of fire, dreams of gold

 

"Gold" is a 2016 American film, very freely based on the Bre-X mining scandal in Indonesia. I didn´t find it *that* interesting, but I admit that the acting as good. Matthew McConaughey is convincing as mining prospector Kenny Wells (the main character), a half-crazy loser with delusions of grandeur and the obligatory tragic love affairs. Wells teams up with Michael Acosta (starred by Edgar Ramirez), a slightly mysterious half-Venezuelan geologist, whose theory of a gold-infested "ring of fire" in the Pacific has been soundly rejected by the scientific community. Together they convince the native Dayaks at Kalimantan in Indonesia to aid them in the search for the ultimate gold mine, which Acosta believes simply must exist deep in the jungle.

When Acosta strikes gold, Kenny´s mining business becomes an over-night sensation, as investment money starts flowing in. They also get unwanted attention from competitors who work for Indonesia´s autocratic president Suharto (the plot is set in 1988) and ex-POTUS Gerald Ford (!). The ever resourceful Acosta manages to convince a wayward son of Suharto to lobby the dictator for a better deal after Kenny proves his macho manhood by gently stroking a tiger in the Suharto family´s private zoo. Until the entire scheme falls apart - it turns out that Acosta has faked the whole thing, and that no gold exists...

The film ends with Kenny being interrogated by the FBI, who tell him that Acosta has been killed by the Indonesian military under dramatic circumstances in Dayak territory. Or perhaps not, since Kenny recieves a cheque for 80 million dollars in a letter from the missing geologist, implying that he got away in the end, after all. How Kenny is going to pick up the cash without arousing the suspicions of the Feds is never explained, however...

"Gold" could perhaps be interesting on a rainy Friday afternoon, especially if you like drama film without too much violence.