Well alright, alright, alright.

That’s how I usually feel when I hear there’s a new Matthew McConaughy film coming out.

Especially if Rustin Cohle himself is in town to introduce it.

But has he struck it rich with his new film Gold?

Kenny Wells is a chancer with a dream.

Aren’t we all.

Kenny’s dream is to follow in his daddy’s footsteps, and discover a great gold mine.

But the eighties haven’t been kind to Wells, and he’s down on his luck just as often as he’s down at his local bar.

But one day he has a dream, and it’s not a dream about being a person in a locked room.

No, this dream involves finding a gold mine large enough to fulfil all of Kenny’s wildest dreams.

And Kenny likes to get pretty wild.

But will our sort of hero be able to make his gold mining dream come true, or will he end playing the fool?

Gold is another one of those ‘inspired by true events’ films, which really come into their own right around award season.

It’s a story about gold and greed, which strikes at the heart of that old american dream where anyone bold enough can make it rich in this capitalist world.

Which is the greatest trick our capitalistic overlords ever pulled off.

But Wells doesn’t really care about the money, he’s in this game for the thrill of the chase.

Having seen and read a few McConaughy pr pieces since watching Gold, it’s clear now that his portrayal of Wells is something of a live letter to his own father, who ploughed a similar furrow in his own life.

And it would seem the apple never falls far from the tree.

The problem with Gold is that it’s a good watch, but not a good film.

Essentially, it’s a vanity project for McConaughy to show off his method acting approach, so the story ends up feeling secondary to everyone’s favourite southern charmer having a tilt at winning another Oscar.

So we’ve got the pot bellied look, the balding pate and the shonky prosthetic teeth all on show, just to show how ugly McConaughy can look if he really tries.

Gold isn’t a bad film, but having set the bar so high with True Detective, it’s still a disappointment when the latest McConaughy shaped vehicle is merely alright, alright, alright.

Jonathan Campbell