Fool's Gold (2008)
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A treasure hunter and his ex-wife must team up to find a lost Spanish galleon while navigating their complicated romantic history.
The story
Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan is obsessed with finding the sunken Spanish galleon, the Aurelia, which was lost with the 1715 Treasure Fleet. After his boat blows up and he finds a fragment of dishware with a family crest, he seeks funding from a greedy creditor. Meanwhile, Finn's ex-wife, Tess, is working as a steward on a luxury yacht. When Finn fails to stop their divorce proceedings, he catches up with Tess to tell her about the treasure. Despite her initial anger, the two eventually team up with a multi-millionaire and his daughter to fund the search for the fabled Queen's Dowry.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan is searching for the sunken Spanish galleon, the Aurelia, lost with the 1715 Treasure Fleet. After his boat blows up and he finds a fragment of dishware showing a family crest, he seeks funding from a greedy creditor, Bigg Bunny, who keeps the fragment. Finn's ex-wife, Tess, is working as a steward on a yacht owned by multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycutt. After Finn fails to stop their divorce, he catches up with Tess and reveals the treasure. Tess is initially skeptical but eventually joins him. They persuade Nigel and his daughter, Gemma, to fund the search. They discover a diary describing the treasure's location and celebrate. However, Bigg Bunny follows them and takes Tess hostage. Finn enlists his former mentor, Moe Fitch, to help rescue her. After a series of events involving a plane, Tess kicks Bigg out of the plane to his death. The treasure is eventually displayed in Moe's museum, renamed the Fitch-Finnegan Maritime Museum. Tess and Finn reunite, and she is shown to be pregnant.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Andy Tennant
- Writers
- Andy Tennant · writer; John Claflin · writer; Daniel Zelman · writer
- Cast and characters
- Matthew McConaughey · Finn; Kate Hudson · Tess; Donald Sutherland; Ewen Bremner; Alexis Dziena; Kevin Hart; Ray Winstone
- Genres
- romantic action comedy; adventure comedy; romantic comedy; action comedy
- Themes
- treasure hunting; romance; divorce; reconciliation
- Tone and mood
- comedic; romantic; action
- Premise and plot tags
- treasure hunt; ex-spouses; action-comedy
- Reception
- The film received negative reviews from critics, with some describing it as tedious and listless, though it was a box office success, grossing over $110 million on a $70 million budget.
- Awards and nominations
- Razzie Award · Worst Actress · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was originally planned to be shot in the Caribbean but moved to Australia due to hurricane season.; Two crew members were stung by Irukandji jellyfish during filming.; The luxury motor yacht in the film was originally called the Keri Lee and was later renamed 'Penny Mae'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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