Metascore
29 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 29
  2. Negative: 18 out of 29
  1. Engaging though flimsy, lively though occasionally tone-deaf, it's a movie that thrives on the strength of its affable co-stars and a sense of adventure that provides just enough brio to get audiences through some energy-sapping rough spots.
  2. 63
    The movie isn't entirely successful as a romance or as an adventure, which makes the experience of watching it feel shallow and hollow, sort of like the stars and the plot.
  3. 58
    Tennant keeps his extravagantly stupid new comedy breezing along affably on the strength of photogenic locales, obscenely beautiful stars, a laid-back soundtrack, and a wholesale unwillingness to take itself the least bit seriously.
  4. Reviewed by: Sid Smith
    50
    A movie that keeps reminding you of its antecedents, all the way back to 1984 and the comic adventure "Romancing the Stone."
  5. 50
    Fool's Gold isn't so much a film as an opportunity to pay homage to Matthew McConaughey's impressive physique.
  6. Just how long will it be before Matthew McConaughey finally fulfills his destiny by dropping out of Hollywood and opening a chain of nudist colonies? His heart clearly isn't in acting right now, so when it was time to make Fool's Gold, he asked his abs to do the job for him.
  7. The script is fatally stupid, most of the gags fall flat, the secondary characters add little, Hudson fails to make anything interesting out of the exasperated heroine, and the endless references to McConaughey's sexual prowess finally become revolting.
  8. 50
    Will Finn and Tess find the treasure before the bad guys? Will they put aside their differences and rekindle their love? Yes to both questions! I haven't spoiled anything, by the way. But perhaps I've saved you some trouble.
  9. The treasure hunt in Fool's Gold is, of course, meant to be about more than money. But the only reason for this movie to exist is to make money.
  10. A soggy, listless affair, this would-be fun-in-the-sun sunken-treasure frivolity starts taking on water from the get-go, thanks to drawn-out exposition and languid pacing.
  11. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    40
    A listless romantic comedy that, almost out of desperation, turns a little more violent than necessary near the end.
  12. No doubt conceived as an underwater version of "National Treasure," Andy Tennant's film plays like a Three Stooges movie with scuba gear.
  13. Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    38
    We already knew Hudson and McConaughey weren't exactly Gable and Lombard from their first romantic pairing in "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days," but director Andy Tennant's complete lack of inventiveness comes as a surprise.
  14. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    The jewels in the buried treasure, once sighted, look fake. But the bigger problem is how artificial the whole story feels.
  15. Of COURSE it's bad. It was always going to be. But it's worse than necessary.
  16. 30
    Fool's Gold could easily have been released in 1977, and there's a sort of laid-back, timeless, Gerald Ford feel to the movie: the resolution is never in doubt, the villains are comedic rather than menacing, and no one involved seems to care one way or the other that their names are attached to this indifferent mess.
  17. 30
    Sutherland is the only actor in Fool's Gold who isn't trying too hard, perhaps because he doesn't have to. He's the movie's only treasure, hidden in plain sight.
  18. It's a big, cheesy, familiar bore. With its garland of set pieces featuring Matthew McConaughey in mortal danger strung together by beach-groovy musical hooks, Fool's Gold feels at times like a third-rate Bond movie set to a Jimmy Buffett album.
  19. Reviewed by: John Anderson
    30
    Any more than two writers on a movie usually spells trouble. On the other hand, that two of the three scribes responsible for Fool's Gold have previously specialized in horror makes perfect sense.
  20. 30
    Sorry deep-sea adventure.
  21. 25
    Excruciatingly lame and laughless romantic comedy.
  22. A romantic comedy and an adventure story, but in this case that just means it bombs in two distinct ways.
  23. 25
    A tedious adventure-romance.
  24. Fool's Gold starts flat and then deflates because of torpid pacing and flailing performances.
  25. Kate Hudson is as blah and dazed as her costar is cloyingly enthused. If it's possible to have too even a tan, Hudson in Fool's Gold would be the poster child for it.
  26. Reviewed by: Simon Braund
    20
    Absolute tosh. A ridiculous, unerringly tedious plot is weighed down by listless performances from a cast who clearly wished they were somewhere else, despite the sumptuous locations.
  27. Reviewed by: Josh Rosenblatt
    20
    Fool's Gold is the latest romantic comedy from Tennant, who is very possibly the worst director working in Hollywood today. "Fools Rush In." "Ever After." "Sweet Home Alabama." Hitch: I ask you, has anyone done more in the last 10 years to make love seem totally unappetizing?
  28. 0
    It's early in the year, but I defy any 2008 comedy to be as stupid, slack and sexless as Fool's Gold. And I'm counting Paris Hilton's appalling "The Hottie and the Nottie," which is marginally better.
  29. Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    0
    Fool's Gold is the sort of movie that makes you look more kindly upon the WGA strike. It isn't merely bad--it's so desperate that the actors can scarcely conceal their contempt for the material.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 61 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 28
  3. Negative: 19 out of 28
  1. MorganF
    3
    Totally laughless. The chemistry between McConaughey and Hudson wasnt there. It totally relied on McConaugheys bod (hes shirtless 80% of the time). More action than a romcom. Full Review »
  2. It's nice to see movies try every once in a while - with this movie it appears that is asking too much. "Fool's Gold" is probably referring to all the money this movie cheated from hapless moviegoers during its opening weekend. If I had to guess, all the characters on camera were made to be stupid to help distract from the stupidity of the people behind the camera (but believe me, it's hard to miss...) Alright, I'm done pummeling this movie. :) Full Review »
  3. BillG
    0
    More completely mind numbing garbage. If my friends werent such dorks for having this , I never would have let myself been tortured like that. When this kind of hollywood schlock ceases to exist the the world will have improved. Full Review »