movie review for gold

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Gold review: 127 hours meets the rover in zac efron’s best effort yet.

Minimalist post-apocalyptic films are their own subgenre but Gold is just a good movie. Hayes' vision is exquisite & Efron's on a higher acting plane.

Anthony Hayes has had smaller roles in iconic Australian films like Animal Kingdom , but his work as writer-director and co-star in Gold is a true Hollywood coming-out party. Paired with Zac Efron's lead performance, one that sees him as committed as he has ever been, Gold works. The makeover Efron goes through is never over-the-top and always believable. The athletic nature of the filmmaking is at once warranted and logical given the bare-bones survival plot. One might think the desert setting would hold back cinematographer Ross Giardina ( Carl’s Motel ), but his use of the surroundings makes this feel like the best version of a film shot during the pandemic. Gold  isn't a gut-punch, but it lulls to sleep before spearing with a jagged branch.

Man One (Efron) needs a ride from Man Two (Hayes) to embark on an expedition into parts unknown. They aren’t even remotely friendly and the ride is purely based on business. Once they stop to rest for the night it becomes clear Man One is looking for gold and he will need Man Two to get it. After countless hours in the hot sun, Man One finds gold. A compromise is struck. Man Two will go into town to acquire the machine they need to excavate the gold, while Man One watches over the gold in case of thieves. As the days and hours go by, Man One begins to lose control of himself once his water and rations are depleted. The only question is what's more dangerous — the hyenas who circle his decaying body or his mind on the brink of insanity?

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The prosthetics on Efron are a perfect fit for the film. Actors routinely go through monumental changes to take on a role. Many times it is that exact fact that makes audiences feel them trying too hard and it ultimately distracts from the performance. In the case of Gold , a choice is made to go with a total transformation, but in the most believable way. Efron’s skin is boiled rotten, not because it would look cool, but because he has sun poison. The makeup department didn't seek to make an ugly Efron or even an unrecognizable one. What they went for was weathered by post-apocalyptic circumstances and they succeeded.

Gold  shares a lot of DNA with The Rover , another indie Australian, post-apocalyptic two-hander where the younger man is at the older man’s mercy. Robert Pattinson ( The Batman ) barely speaks in the film and The Rover is still a critical moment in his post- Twilight resurgence. The same can be said of Efron, and not only because of the identical plots and roots in teen culture. This is the performance that solidifies that Efron is capable of real drama. Though his turn as Ted Bundy drew more attention, Gold sees the former teen idol not only act, but be the best part of a film with only four characters (the other three of whom are excellent as well). The fear in Efron's eyes from start to finish is both consistent and engaging.

Anthony Hayes did wonders for the film, and with very little cinematic extravagance. His presence in Gold  is not as pertinent as Efron’s, but he makes the most of every scene. As the resident know-it-all, the audience has to trust him since there is very little that is known about this universe. But as an actor, Hayes keeps a spark in his eye that will continually confuse audiences in the best way. As a writer-director, he is just as savvy. The world of Gold seems fully formed and simultaneously a total mystery.

The entire cast and crew of Gold is on the same page and the movie really clicks once viewers find out how alone they are in it. Though minimalist indie post-apocalyptic films are becoming a sub-genre of their own, Gold is just a good movie. No caveats. Hayes’ vision is exquisite and Efron is on a higher plane of acting. Gold is mysterious, haunting, and exhilarating, a minor miracle given only four people speak and the entire film takes place in a desert.

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‘gold’: film review.

In 'Gold,' an adventure drama inspired by true events, Matthew McConaughey and Edgar Ramirez star as business partners whose underdog mining enterprise puts them on the high-finance map.

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

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Kenny Wells, the indefatigable wildcat prospector at the center of Gold , is a classic American striver — but without the classic American sheen. Potbellied, balding, snaggletoothed , hard-drinking and chain-smoking, he’s played by Matthew McConaughey with a marrow-deep understanding of what makes this desperate dreamer tick. Beyond the actor’s striking physical transformation, his aptly showy turn is the stuff of muck, sweat and dreams, and every instant of it burns true. As robust as the lead performance is, though, the movie around it, directed by Stephen Gaghan from a screenplay by Patrick Massett and John Zinman , too often feels serviceable rather than inspired.

The story of Wells’ Indonesian venture with a legendary geologist ( Edgar Ramirez ), their discovery of gold deposits of historic proportions and their subsequent tangles with Wall Street bears all the earmarks of surefire Oscar lure, at least on paper. But as the drama launches its qualifying run before a wide release in January, awards momentum has yet to materialize. (Its single Golden Globe nomination is for the Iggy Pop-crooned title song.) Whether the Academy’s actors’ branch puts McConaughey in the race is yet to be seen. Then again, Kenny Wells might not be the right capitalist antihero for these times.

Release date: Dec 31, 2016

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Taking its plotline cues from a 1997 mining scandal involving Canadian outfit Bre-X , the feature relocates the home-company action from Calgary to Reno, aka “the biggest little city in the world” and a setting that perfectly underscores the gambler impulse that defines the main character. It’s also a town where streets are named after Wells’ family, whose Washoe Mining Corporation has been a leading local business since his grandfather founded it.

A 1981 prologue shows Kenny in the glow of McConaughey-familiar looks and swagger as his father (Craig T. Nelson) places key account responsibilities in his hands. But the main action takes place seven years later, amid a general economic downturn and the bottom of the barrel for Kenny, who has lost his house and is living with longtime girlfriend Kay ( Bryce Dallas Howard ), a sturdy salt-of-the-earth type. What’s left of Washoe operates out of the bar where she waitresses, and bankers won’t give Kenny the time of day.

Kenny’s can-do spirit is coiled and ready to pounce when, in a whiskey-fueled vision, he remembers geologist Michael Acosta (Ramirez), the man behind a landmark copper strike in Indonesia and proponent of a theory about untapped reserves of gold. One trip to the pawn shop and Kenny is in Southeast Asia, a penniless spieler who convinces the inscrutable Acosta to partner with him because he’s one of the “make-it-happen motherf — ers.”

What unfolds amid the stateside fundraising and jungle excavation is a double romance: There’s Kenny’s love for Kay and, more to the story’s point, his love and admiration for Acosta. Neither strand has the impact it should, but Howard makes more of an impression. Ramirez mostly appears uncomfortable as the chalk to Kenny’s cheese. Impeccable even in tropical heat, Acosta is a man of few words who, in some of the screenplay’s best exchanges, coolly shoots down Kenny’s stabs at sentimentality.

But a certain type of sentimental male bond is at the core of Gold as much as the romance of the search for the precious metal. After their search pays off, the modern-day Mutt and Jeff are a more or less united force — able to resist, in different ways and to varying degrees, the big-business allurements of a New York investment banker (Corey Stoll ) and a gazillionaire competitor ( Bruce Greenwood ). Kenny sees no reason to repel the interest of an aggressively flirtatious finance hotshot (Rachael Taylor), while on home turf, he’s in the doghouse with Kay and back in the good graces of the banker (Stacy Keach ) whose lackeys once turned him away.

Heightening the disconnect between Manhattan and Reno, designers Maria Djurkovic and Danny Glicker give us Kenny enjoying the luxury of his Waldorf suite in his tighty whities , and Kay facing dismissive glances when she strides into a business soiree in a garish metallic dress. Among the business-black conformity of high-powered Gotham, all that glitters isn’t gold.

The screenplay by TV vets Massett and Zinman ( Friday Night Lights ), whose only previous produced feature is Lara Croft: Tomb Raider , has an assured grasp of mining and finance lingo. And McConaughey excels at drawing unexpected music from his lines. But the movie leans too much on his voiceover, giving the narrative a cobbled-together feel rather than a full-throttle rush. With the accomplished cinematographer Robert Elswit at the lens and a smart, percussive score by Daniel Pemberton, that reliance on literal explanation feels like second-guessing.

Another narrative framing device, a series of flash-forwards to an interview between Kenny and an unidentified questioner (Toby Kebbell ), whose role is revealed along with the story’s main twist, is more effective than the v.o. narration, though it too pulls the viewer out of the drama.

Gaghan , working with a far more accessible screenplay than his own for Syriana , delivers some strong individual scenes and judiciously employs split screens to excellent effect, uniting the unlikely partners when they’re working on separate continents. He and Elswit capture the essence of the movie’s disparate locations. The Indonesia sequences, filmed in Thailand under reportedly treacherous physical conditions, convey the steamy temperatures as well as the emerald lushness of the setting.

Whether in the booth of a dingy bar or on a jungle river, Kenny Wells approaches life with a headlong fervor that makes him suspect. But he’s no flimflam man; he’s a believer. McConaughey has said that his father was an inspiration for his performance, which ranks among his best. The actor’s intensity never flags. What’s missing from this story of struggle and glory and the need to believe is a fever to match his.

Distributor: TWC-Dimension Production companies: Black Bear Pictures, Highway 61 Films, Boies /Schiller Films Cast: Matthew McConaughey , Edgar Ramirez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll , Toby Kebbell , Stacey Keach , Bill Camp, Joshua Harto , Timothy Simons, Craig T. Nelson, Bruce Greenwood, Adam LeFevre , Rachael Taylor Director: Stephen Gaghan Screenwriters: Patrick Massett , John Zinman Producers: Teddy Schwarzman , Michael Nozik , Patrick Massett , John Zinman , Matthew McConaughey Executive producers: Paul Haggis, Richard Middleton, Ben Stillman , Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein,  David Glasser Director of photography: Robert Elswit Production designer: Maria Djurkovic Costume designer: Danny Glicker Editors: Douglas Crise , Rick Grayson Composer: Daniel Pemberton Casting: Avy Kaufman

Rated R, 120 minutes

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‘Gold’ Review: Matthew McConaughey Makes It a Worthwhile Investment

Technical flaws are no match for a fascinating narrative and riveting lead performance.

There’s definitely something frightening about the thought that you might never achieve your dreams, but it might hurt even more to get there and then lose it all.

Gold is inspired by a true story and stars Matthew McConaughey as Kenny Wells, an extremely passionate and persistent prospector who’s going to do whatever it takes to make the ultimate find. That ambition leads him to risk it all on Mike Acosta ( Edgar Ramirez ), a renowned geologist who supposedly knows where to set up their operation. They partner up, get digging in Indonesia, and struggle through a number of serious setbacks, but ultimately, they achieve the dream and find gold. However, that doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing from there.

Yes, Gold is inspired by a true story and yes, you can easily look up the details, but if you’re not aware of what happened prior to seeing the film, I’d highly recommend keeping it that way. Whether we’re talking about being a successful prospector or building a booming food chain like Ray Kroc in The Founder , the path to the top is often inherently fascinating. It’s something that anyone who’s ever hoped to excel in their profession can relate to but at the same time, the paths to achieving the loftiest dreams are often extremely unique. Gold is an interesting story in and of itself, but hitting theaters right after The Founder actually serves it well because it highlights the differences between Ray Kroc’s approach to striking it rich and Kenny’s Wells’ determination to become the best of the best in his field, and it’s those vast and more subtle differences that lead you to appreciate what Kenny goes through to an extent that might not have been possible had it not arrived immediately after The Founder .

Kenny isn’t a bad guy by any means, but his pushy and extremely resolute personality can make him very difficult to work with - and very entertaining to watch. Once you get used to his drastic new look, as one might expect, McConaughey is excellent in the role. He’s got no trouble jumping from overly ambitious prospector to loving husband who truly wants to do right by his wife, Kay ( Bryce Dallas Howard ). That combination also comes in handy when the movie starts to explore his business relationship with Acosta. Kenny operates as though striking gold is priority number one - even over his own health - but he’s also a loyal guy and genuinely cares about and respects his friendship with his new partner.

Kenny’s relationship with Kay certainly could have used a little more screen time to plug up some significant plot holes in their sub-story, but writers Patrick Massett and John Zinman do a much better job with Kenny and Acosta, balancing the progression of their connection as friends and their professional aspirations in a way that makes Gold well worth a second watch. The movie takes a little while to gain momentum, but once Kenny and Acosta’s dig is underway, director Stephen Gaghan does manage to establish an effective build that peaks with one heck of a climax that’ll stick with you well after the movie is over. However, another place the script could have used a little reshaping is a non-linear narrative component Massett and Zinman add that features Toby Kebbell . The scenes play well enough and they wind up serving a bigger purpose, but not in a way that would justify the misdirection throughout the movie.

Where Gold runs into its biggest problems, however, is in the technical department. Pacing is a serious issue in the first act and there are also noticeable flaws with the lighting, editing and shot composition. Simply put, it’s often just not a very pretty picture. The story and performances are strong enough to carry the movie regardless, but dim lighting and unappealing framing may catch your eye every so often. And the same goes for particular scene transitions, too. There’s a small handful that feel more like bandaids than natural transitions from one moment to the next, and usually they involve fades or abrupt cuts between scenes with drastically different tones to the them.

Every part of a film production is vital to creating a successful whole, but Gold highlights the importance of character and story, and the simple fact that if you care enough about the character and are engaged in his or her journey, the movie can still work. McConaughey delivers a wildly dynamic performance that’ll have you bouncing between rooting for and against Kenny all the way through, but most importantly, McConaughey gets you to understand Kenny’s decisions - whether you agree with them or not - and that’s what makes his story impactful and memorable.

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‘Gold’ Review: Matthew McConaughey Shines in Twisted-Up Tale of American Greed

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Matthew McConaughey dives into his role as mad-dog prospector Kenny Wells like a starving man sitting down to a feast. As a movie, Gold is slim pickings. But McConaughey keeps you riveted. Based loosely on a 1990’s gold-mining scandal involving John Felderhof, who partnered with a Filipino geologist Michael de Guzman to mine a mineral fortune in the Indonesian jungles, the movie changes names and dates and messes with the facts at will. Why? Director Steve Gaghan ( Syriana ) and screenwriters Patrick Massett and John Zinman ( Lara Croft: Tomb Raider ) apparently wanted to mate The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with The Wolf of Wall Street and birth a box-office bonanza out of an orgy of greed and hedonism. It’s a scary hybrid tribute to capitalism run amok.

McConaughey plays Kenny as a sweaty, balding, pot-bellied fantasist. Too much? Nah. Watching a dynamite actor take risks is exhilarating. The man has inherited a Nevada mining company from his daddy. But he doesn’t know what to do with it until a level-headed geologist, Michael Acosta (a sly, stellar Édgar Ramírez), tells him there really is gold in them thar hills. Kenny is always in a fever, so when he contracts malaria in Indonesia, you think he might collapse in a puddle. Instead, Mr. Can-Do strikes it rich – which brings on the vultures, including the Indonesian government, all in for a piece of the action in the biggest gold strike of the 20th century. Meanwhile, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard), the girl back home, tries to keep him off the ledge.

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No such luck. As Gold hits its bad-news phase – the F.B.I. starts sniffing around and the gold strike is unmasked as a fraud – the life goes out of this wildly uneven movie. Only through the deep-drill thrill of McConaughey’s performance do we learn something worth knowing about human nature and the legacy of a broken American dream.

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Gold review – Zac Efron fries in a tough and tense outback thriller

Director-actor Anthony Hayes and his famous co-star deliver strong performances but this dystopian vision becomes gratingly thin

A nthony Hayes is far from the first film-maker to have realised that the Australian outback provides great scaffolding for sparse dystopias, his tough and tense survival thriller Gold emphasising the vast, screen-buckling nothingness. Led by a grubby-looking and banged-up Zac Efron , continuing a long tradition of actors seeking critical acclaim by messing up their photogenic faces, the film is introduced with the text: “SOME TIME. SOME PLACE. NOT FAR FROM NOW…”

This is another way of saying that this South Australia-shot production is set during what the Mad Max director, George Miller, describes as “next Wednesday”: a time in which “all the bad things we read in the news come to pass”. Happy happy joy joy Gold is not, in other words, with its vision of an ecologically ruined world that’s gone to the dogs. Hayes makes it abundantly clear from the unsubtle opening shot – a pair of vultures – that this will be a rather different vision of sand and sun than the 2017 Baywatch remake Efron starred in, torpedo buoy in hand, pectorals glistening.

Although Gold is a new addition to a genre I call the “bugger dead, it’s hot” action thriller (which includes the terrific TV series The Tourist ), Hayes makes the point that the story is not necessarily based in Australia but the aforementioned “SOME PLACE”. This handily saves Efron from impersonating an Aussie and from the potential embarrassment suffered by those (like Bill Nighy , Quentin Tarantino and Kirby Howell-Baptiste ) who have tried to wrap their tongues around a speaking style once described by Winston Churchill as “the most brutal maltreatment that has ever been inflicted on the mother-tongue of the great English-speaking nations”.

Hayes, a veteran character actor himself, co-stars as a bloke billed as Man Two, opposite Efron’s Man One. This reflects an intentional lack of humanity in the film’s outlook, with its tendency to view people through a misanthropic lens. The two men are in the outback because Man One has discovered a huge chunk of gold in them thar desert, which leads to an awkward conversation between them thar men, about who should stay and who should go get the excavator. Efron insists on staying with the gold, despite him being an inexperienced stranger in this land, with nary a solar-powered portable fan or six pack of brewskis to make the impending experience more palatable.

Gold has elements of a chamber piece, but also long stretches in which a hot and bothered Man One becomes increasingly, well, hot and bothered, fending off various hallucinations. It’s clear early on that Efron is in good hands, with Hayes being a talented director of other actors, as he demonstrated in his 2008 hard-hitting directorial debut Ten Empty. Hayes also clearly trusts Efron, who delivers a strong, gloomy and tetchy performance. It’s smart, rather than exceptional, acting: Efron understands he doesn’t need to say and do too much here; he can internalise emotion and let the atmosphere and intensity of the film wash over him.

The cinematographer, Ross Giardina, depicts heat in an interesting way, scaling back the palette to such an extent that many scenes appear virtually colourless. Early on, when Hayes is shown having a cigarette, the smoke he exhales is almost the same colour as the sky: a chalky white more commonly seen in ice and snow. The inference of heat here comes from other places: the barrenness of the land, sweat, the clogging intensity of the drama itself.

Gold is a minimalistic production, story and setting wise, with an interesting kind of contextual ambiguity: we know there is a wider world beyond the frame, though we don’t know what it looks like. Sparseness is intriguing, but this film is so damn sparse. With so little going on, for such a long time, the experience becomes gratingly thin. I admired the craft of Gold but left feeling cold – unlike, of course, Efron, who is cooked like an overripe piece of fruit tossed into an incinerator.

Gold will screen in select cinemas from 13 January and premieres on 26 January on Stan

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Movie Review – Gold (2022)

June 21, 2022 by Robert Kojder

Gold , 2022.

Directed by Anthony Hayes. Starring Zac Efron, Susie Porter, and Anthony Hayes.

In the not too distant future, a drifter (Zac Efron) travelling through the desert discovers the largest gold nugget ever found. He must guard it from thieves amid harsh conditions and wild dogs while waiting for his partner to return.

Part of what makes Gold fascinating is its minimalistic and ambiguous depiction of an apocalypse that somewhat pushes the world back in time to the old west. The opening credits make mention that the story takes place in the not-too-distant future, but if it weren’t for old TV sets and other modern technological devices, you wouldn’t be faulted for assuming it’s some gold rush period piece dirtying up the handsome Zac Efron. Directed by Anthony Hayes (who also co-stars while writing the script alongside Polly Smyth), there’s not much insight into what has brought about this Mad Max reminiscent end of days or what Zac Efron’s nameless character is traveling for (beyond a vague compound job). There’s also not much of a need to explore those aspects.

Past that, Gold is a somewhat formulaic tale of greed, delusions, and betrayal, as the nameless face and his newly acquainted escort come across a large piece of gold in the desert. The quickly hatched-together plan involves one of them staying behind to protect the treasure while fending off anyone or anything that interferes, while the other heads off to find assistance hauling the massive chunk of wealth out of the ground. They already don’t trust one another but eventually settle on Zac Efron’s character staying behind after he receives a brief tutorial on SAT phones, collecting food, staying hydrated, and keeping the treasure hidden from anyone that might stumble across him.

In terms of efficient craftsmanship,  Gold makes good use out of the environment of its Australian filming location (notably some making use of silhouettes and sundrenched heat), isolation, heat, and the opportunity to turn Zac Efron into a grimy and messy husk of his attractively cleanly self; there is plenty of value. There is also a graphic novel sheen to the gritty visuals, which feels appropriate given the apocalyptic backdrop. Zac Efron also assuredly gives an against type and impressive turn, as he battles everything from loneliness, rabid coyotes, a mystery involving a crash-landed plane, twin sisters wondering what the hell he is doing out there, and the cliché psychological deterioration. It’s unquestionably his quietest role to date, bringing many nuances to the role as outstanding makeup effects emphasize his hampered physical state of being.

The only shortcoming is that pretty much everything here, including the twist ending, has been seen and done before, leaving little room for genuine surprise. As a result, Gold occasionally comes across as tedious and passive, with the main reason to watch being Zac Efron’s gradual mental breakdown and his commitment to the performance. There’s nothing revolutionary about the themes being explored, and the world the story set in becomes a non-factor after the story switches gears following the first act. However, this is a solid and polished slice of mediocrity that Zac Efron does, ultimately, makes worth seeking out.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Review: Matthew McConaughey Mines Profane Capitalism in ‘Gold’

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By A.O. Scott

• Jan. 26, 2017

Kenny Wells, the feckless owner of a Nevada mining company, is the latest entry in the Matthew McConaughey gallery of charming rogues. Swaybacked and paunchy, with a thinning dome and an appetite for Winstons and Seagram’s that would keep both brands in business if the rest of the world went cold turkey, Kenny doesn’t quite have the wolfish charisma or the mystical intensity of some of Mr. McConaughey’s other recent characters. But like them — like Mick Haller in “The Lincoln Lawyer,” Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club” and that guy in those car commercials — he is fun to watch and hard not to root for.

“Gold,” which chronicles a few of Kenny’s rises and falls in the 1980s, describes itself as “inspired by actual events,” but inspiration is precisely what the film, directed by Stephen Gaghan from a script by Patrick Massett and John Zinman, seems to lack. Mr. McConaughey is a ball of profane, entrepreneurial energy bouncing around in a vacuum. The story swings from the Nevada desert to the Indonesian rain forest to Wall Street boardrooms, and the screen bristles with signifiers of capitalist activity: meetings, phone calls, stock tickers. But the movie isn’t really doing any work. It’s just looking busy.

Movie Review: ‘Gold’

The times critic a.o scott reviews “gold.”.

In “Gold,” Matthew McConaughey plays a man who strikes it rich mining for gold — or does he? In his review A.O. Scott writes: Matthew McConaughey is a ball of profane, entrepreneurial energy bouncing around in a vacuum. The story swings from the Nevada desert to the Indonesian rain forest to Wall Street boardrooms and the screen bristles with signifiers of capitalist activity. But the movie isn’t really doing any work. It’s just looking busy. The film could have been a biting satire of greed and folly, a neo-Conradian tale of Western misadventure in Asia, a rousing fable of underdog triumph or a caper comedy. It tries, in its frantic, clumsy fashion, to be all of those things, and comes close enough to succeeding to qualify as an honorable failure.

Having nearly run the family prospecting business into the ground (so to speak), Kenny gambles on the expertise of a Mike Acosta (Édgar Ramírez), a geologist with an almost mystical reputation. They strike gold in Indonesia, and a gilded future opens up for Kenny and his longtime girlfriend, Kaylene (Bryce Dallas Howard). There are shadows and complications, of course, including the corruptions of wealth, the treachery of rivals and Kenny’s own impulsiveness. Broad hints are dropped that things will end badly.

But enough goes wrong along the way — with the movie, I mean, not with Mike and Kenny’s scheme — to make the outcome feel almost moot. The film is well cast: You can’t really go wrong with Bill Camp, Corey Stoll, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. It’s beautifully shot (you can’t go wrong with Robert Elswit , either). There is a pleasingly sleazy, swaggering, brown-tinted ’80s vibe. And there are flickering reminders of other ambitious, money-chasing mock epics, as if the filmmakers were hoping an algorithm would deposit “Gold” in the queues of viewers who liked “American Hustle,” “The Big Short” and Mr. Gaghan’s own “Syriana.”

With this material, he could have gone in any number of interesting directions, which may have been part of the problem. “Gold” could have been a biting satire of greed and folly, a neo-Conradian tale of Western misadventure in Asia, a rousing fable of underdog triumph or a caper comedy. It tries, in its frantic, clumsy fashion, to be all of those things, and comes close enough to succeeding to qualify as an honorable failure.

What holds your attention is the question of whether that description fits Kenny as well. He could just as well be the opposite — a dishonorable success. He is far from a subtle guy, but Mr. McConaughey is a sly enough actor to make us wonder whether we’re in the company of a fool or a con artist and to make us question whether there’s really a difference. His wild, abrasive and improbably delicate performance is what makes “Gold” watchable, even if the rest of the movie doesn’t supply sufficient reason to keep watching.

Gold Rated R for drinking, smoking, swearing, lying. Running time: 2 hours.

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‘Gold’ movie review: Zac Efron strikes it rich in rock-solid Aussie thriller

• January 26, 2022
• ★★★½ , Movie Reviews

A desperate drifter on a dead-end journey to the edge of the world stumbles upon a massive deposit of precious ore in Gold , a sun-drenched new thriller from actor-turned-director Anthony Hayes , who co-wrote the screenplay with Polly Smyth . Despite being a (mostly) one-man show for most of the running time, Gold is a ruggedly compelling and richly-detailed survival thriller that delivers the goods.

Zac Efron stars as the nameless drifter, who has been beaten down by life but hasn’t lost his kind soul; in the film’s opening scene, he hands a young child what may be his last half a sandwich. He gets off a train in the middle of nowhere, looking for a ride out even further, all based on the promise of work from a crumpled-up advertisement.

The drifter finds his ride in a nameless driver (played by director Hayes), and the pair share an intense multi-day ride that comes to a head when the drifter turns up the air conditioning on the old jalopy and overheats the engine.

But a funny thing happens on the road to nowhere: relieving himself in the desert while the driver repairs the car, Efron’s character spots something shimmering beneath the sand. Informal testing reveals he has found gold; digging around the rock reveals no end to it, and even the old car can’t help unearth it.

Too big to get out of the ground, a plan is hatched to make it rich: one of the men will go to the nearest town and rustle up some heavy machinery for the dig, while the other will stay with the gold. Despite the drifter’s inexperience with the harsh elements, he insists on staying behind to protect his find.

Why don’t both men go into town? The rock is just sitting there, right? “Obviously,” they both agree, someone needs to watch over it. It’s a metaphorical aside from the rest of Gold ’s harsh tale of survival, but nicely conveys the film’s central theme: attachment is the root of all suffering, and the greater the attachment the higher the cost.

Gold ’s setting is an undefined, possibly post-apocalyptic future; we see road signs in Arabic and Cyrillic along the journey. But Gold’s filming is the unmistakable Australian outback, and it becomes the movie’s most dominant figure: an endless desert, sandstorms, scorpions, scavenging birds and predatory dingoes, cold dark nights and a boiling hot sun during the day.

Efron’s drifter starts the movie covered in tatters and dirt, gets (literally) baked in the sun, and by the end of the movie he’s unrecognizable. Kudos to the makeup team that details his character’s increasingly sun-damaged skin throughout the film, and kudos to Efron for carrying Gold with a quiet, haunting performance that begins with a spark of hope and slowly erodes under the elements.

Gold is at its finest during long, largely silent procedural passages detailing the drifter’s struggle to survive: he collects firewood to stave off the dingoes at night, builds himself a fort out of scrap metal salvaged from a plane wreck, and slowly doles out his remaining supplies. In these scenes, the film recalls the plight of Robert Redford ’s sailor in All Is Lost , the high-water mark for this type of thing.

By the end, however, Gold ’s procedural nature gives way to something a little more ambiguous as Efrons’ character begins to lose his mind, the final victim of the outback’s elements. An abrupt finale ground the world of the movie back into reality, but feels just a little less than fully satisfying.

Still, Gold is a stark and uncompromising tale of survival and sacrifice, and what we’re willing to give up to hold onto hope for a better future. Gold is bolstered by a stripped-down performance by Efron in one of his most memorable turns, and in addition to crafting a compelling little thriller, writer-director Hayes offers some solid support as the driver.

• 2022 , Akuol Ngot , Andreas Sobik , Anthony Hayes , Gold , Polly Smyth , Susie Porter , Thiik Biar , Zac Efron

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2016, Drama/Adventure, 2h 0m

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Critics Consensus

Gold boasts an impressively committed performance from Matthew McConaughey, but it's just one glittering nugget in an otherwise uneven heap of cinematic silt. Read critic reviews

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Gold videos, gold   photos.

Kenny Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break, teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard but keeping it is even more difficult, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street.

Rating: R (Some Sexuality/Nudity|Language Throughout)

Genre: Drama, Adventure

Original Language: English

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Producer: Teddy Schwarzman , Michael Nozik , Patrick Massett , John Zinman , Matthew McConaughey

Writer: Patrick Massett , John Zinman

Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 20, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $7.2M

Runtime: 2h 0m

Distributor: Weinstein Co.

Production Co: Black Bear Pictures, Living Films, Hwy 61 Films

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast & Crew

Matthew McConaughey

Kenny Wells

Edgar Ramírez

Michael Acosta

Bryce Dallas Howard

Joshua Harto

Lloyd Stanton

Timothy Simons

Jeff Jackson

Michael Landes

Glen Binkert

Corey Stoll

Brian Woolf

Toby Kebbell

Paul Jennings

Bruce Greenwood

Mark Hancock

Stacy Keach

Clive Coleman

Hollis Drescher

Macon Blair

Connie Wright

Bhavesh Patel

Bobby Owens

Craig T. Nelson

Stephen Gaghan

Patrick Massett

Screenwriter

John Zinman

Teddy Schwarzman

Michael Nozik

Paul Haggis

Executive Producer

Richard Middleton

Ben Stillman

Robert Elswit

Cinematographer

Douglas Crise

Film Editing

Rick Grayson

Daniel Pemberton

Original Music

Maria Djurkovic

Production Design

Danny Glicker

Costume Design

Avy Kaufman

News & Interviews for Gold

On DVD This Week: The Red Turtle , The Salesman , and More

Box Office: Split Stays #1 and Heads for $100M+

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Will Please Fans but Few Others

Critic Reviews for Gold

Audience reviews for gold.

https://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/nocturnal-animals-dir-ford-2016-imsure.html

Stephen Gaghan has worked mostly behind the scenes as a screenwriter in his early days when he first hit LA with "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Since then, he has graced us with "Traffic" (screenwriter) and "Syriana" (screenwriter/director) as his only two "fresh" movies. Fast forward nearly 12 years, and he has all-star actor Matthew McConaughey under his wing with a story worthy of putting on the silver screen. It's just a shame what should be a shining bright nugget gets stuck in the mud without a sifter to help find its way to the light. McConaughey puts in a fully committed performance as Kenny Wells. Too bad it goes to waste on a movie that doesn't quite hold your attention with the story as much as it does with his eccentric transformation. It's a age-old classic of the American Dream, except instead of drugs and violence, we get Gold. Think a poor man's Wolf of Wallstreet and about an hour shorter. While Scorsese's movie dragged for hours with detail on even the most trivial of things, Gold doesn't give enough of it to accurately portray the full picture. It's tough to watch a McConaughey movie and not be impressed by his acting, but it's another thing to watch a movie that so under utilizes his talents because the script is so light in all the right spots. Without the relationships, we have no one and nothing to pin our eye to.

Much like The Founder, Gold is a story about ambition, persistence, and the American Spirit. While it's not as good as The Founder was, McConoughey and Ramirez performances are enough to give this film a passing grade.

Even though this is based upon a true story, given the story it is trying to tell, it could have been far more exciting. As it stands, the only redeeming feature is the performance from Matthew McConaughey.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Disturbing images and clear message in Efron survival drama.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

If you take from nature, nature will take from you

The main character is perseverant but applies this

Indigenous actors are in featured minor roles; mai

Main character is in deep peril as he faces the el

Strong language throughout, including "damn," "hel

Supporting character smokes throughout.

Parents need to know that Gold is a dystopian Western-ish survival drama starring Zac Efron as an unnamed man who discovers and claims a large gold rock in the desolate wilderness. The slippery slope of easy money is put into perspective in the most memorable way: Stuck in the desert under a relentless sun,…

Positive Messages

If you take from nature, nature will take from you. Greed isn't good.

Positive Role Models

The main character is perseverant but applies this life skill to an unworthy cause.

Diverse Representations

Indigenous actors are in featured minor roles; main character is White. A woman is shown to be tough and capable when it comes to survival.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Main character is in deep peril as he faces the elements alone in dry, desolate terrain. Animal attack. Bloody wounds. Skin is charred and blistered from a deep sunburn and becomes increasingly more traumatized. Person is hit hard with a blunt instrument. Dogfight. Murder. Impaling. Gruesome images. Dying animal hit with a rock to put it out of its misery.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong language throughout, including "damn," "hell," "pr--k," "s--t," and "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Gold is a dystopian Western-ish survival drama starring Zac Efron as an unnamed man who discovers and claims a large gold rock in the desolate wilderness. The slippery slope of easy money is put into perspective in the most memorable way: Stuck in the desert under a relentless sun, the man's face becomes increasingly blistered until it's essentially falling off. It's brutal to watch the man enduring animal attacks and a ferocious dust storm. There are bloody wounds, gruesome images, and a dying animal being hit with a rock to put it out of its misery. Just as stomach-churning is what happens to human nature in the throes of greed. Dialogue is limited, but what is said is peppered with profanity ("pr--k," "f--k"). A supporting character smokes throughout the movie. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say
• Kids say (2)

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

A man ( Zac Efron ) who's down on his luck discovers a massive GOLD rock off of a desolate roadway. While he waits for his partner ( Anthony Hayes ) to return with equipment, he must fend off potential claimants, as well as the brutal elements of nature.

Is It Any Good?

Efron's dystopian fable is something of a treasure: Its message is delivered with such visual impact that you'll never be able to scrub it from your memory. While his character tries to protect a patch of gold in the desert, he's slowly destroyed by the unforgiving environment, his body barely mobile, his mind turning to dust. It's hard to watch and impossible to forget.

Efron's "Man One" is made relatable by keeping his past and his thoughts out of viewers' reach: We don't know what he's been through, just that he and the world are experiencing turbulent times, and becoming rich seems like a godsend. As he navigates the dry, arid elements, the movie's long silences let viewers wonder what they might do if they were in his shoes. Writer-director and co-star Hayes uses gorgeous cinematography as a reminder that Mother Nature may be beautiful, but she will protect herself. Efron puts it all out there, and those who prefer to think of him as Troy from High School Musical should skip this one. The actor is making it clear, though, that he's more than a pretty face -- and after seeing Gold , you'll never look at his face the same way.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Gold 's violence . Do the disturbing images serve a purpose, and, if so, does that make a difference in their impact?

How does Gold put you in the shoes of the main character, understanding his financial desperation and empathizing with how he got into this position?

What is a fable, and what purpose does it serve? How is this story similar to myths/stories like the one about King Midas or "The Flies and the Honey Pot"? At times, we all face temptation: Do you think you'll remember the moral of this film?

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 11, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : June 14, 2022
• Cast : Zac Efron , Anthony Hayes , Susie Porter
• Director : Anthony Hayes
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Screen Media Films
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 97 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and some violent content
• Last updated : February 25, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

The Call of the Wild

The Revenant

The Gold Rush

Westerns for kids and teens, thriller movies.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The movie showcases the incidents that take place within four days of Joshi, a mobile shop owner, purchasing a new car owing to a marriage alliance that is almost fixed with a girl called Ra... Read all The movie showcases the incidents that take place within four days of Joshi, a mobile shop owner, purchasing a new car owing to a marriage alliance that is almost fixed with a girl called Radha. The movie showcases the incidents that take place within four days of Joshi, a mobile shop owner, purchasing a new car owing to a marriage alliance that is almost fixed with a girl called Radha.

• Alphonse Puthren
• Prithviraj Sukumaran
• Soubin Shahir
• 40 User reviews
• 5 Critic reviews

• Joshi S. Kunjan

• Sumangali Unnikrishnan

• Manu(new-gen gunda)

• Head Constable Prince

• Jumper Santhosh

• Boss Freddy

• Major Colonel Singhania

• Velukkuttan

• Jomon (Joshi's mechanic friend)

• Kalamassery Ajayan( Kerala C.M)

• Driver Richards

• Sunesh Shaji (Idea Shaji's son)

• Joshi's Mother

• 'Spider' Suresh

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• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia This is Alohonse Puthrans movie after 7 years
• Connections References Kireedam (1989)

User reviews 40

• gangeshgnair
• Dec 30, 2022
• How long is Gold? Powered by Alexa
• December 1, 2022 (India)
• Magic Frames
• Prithviraj Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 2 hours 45 minutes

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ULEE’S GOLD

"the salve of honey".

What You Need To Know:

(CCC, BB, LL, VV, A, D, M) Strong Christian worldview with many redemptive acts; 15 obscenities, 2 vulgarities & 2 profanities; moderate violence including threats with guns, men bind and gag women, man stabs man in back, & threats with guns; no sex; no nudity; alcohol use; smoking & woman withdraws from drugs; and, miscellaneous immorality including rebellious attitudes.

More Detail:

It is encouraging to know that small, but moral movies like THE SPITFIRE GRILL and ULEE’S GOLD are being recognized and praised at the Sundance Film Festival. Selected as the Festival Centerpiece Premiere for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, ULEE’S GOLD stars Peter Fonda and is written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker, Victor Nunez, who directed the moral, character-driven RUBY IN PARADISE.

Ulee Jackson (Peter Fonda) is a solitary beekeeper in the tupelo marshes of the Florida panhandle. ULEE’S GOLD is neither coin, nor paper money, but tupelo honey – a tangible metaphor of the one consistency in his life which allows him to weather drastic, but positive family change. The only survivor of his battalion during the Vietnam War, he stoically copes with raising his two granddaughters, Penny (Vanessa Zima) and Casey (Jessica Biel, who stars in the MOVIEGUIDE praised TV program SEVENTH HEAVEN). Casey has been rebelling against Ulee’s parenting by dressing up in leather, while Penny remains quiet and obedient. Ulee raises these girls because his son Jimmy, (Tom Wood), has been imprisoned and his daughter-in-law, Helen (Christine Dunford), has been absent for over two years.

One day, Jimmy demands that Ulee come to the prison and talk. There, Jimmy says that Helen is in big trouble, strung out on drugs and resting at the home of Jimmy’s former partners-in-crime, Bill and Ferris, in Orlando. Ulee makes the trip to rescue Helen, but he finds out that these criminals are demanding a ransom for Helen. In her drugged condition, Helen revealed the whereabouts of some money that Bill, Ferris and Jimmy stole in their last hit. Ulee says that he will find the money and give it to them. Bill says that unless the money is delivered in a week, they will kill Helen and his granddaughters.

At home, Ulee’s neighbor, Connie, a nurse, helps Helen come down off the overdose. Meanwhile, Ulee is behind in extracting 30 barrels of tupelo honey from his hives. Penny and Casey help Ulee, as they get re-acquainted with their mother. Time passes, and Bill and Ferris show up early. The film climaxes as the criminals bind and gag the women and take Ulee by gun-point to the location of the money. Without a shoot out or casualties, justice is brought to the criminals, and Ulee is able to redeem his fractured family.

Like the incarnational SPITFIRE GRILL, ULEE’S GOLD carries many Christian images and themes of redemption, love and forgiveness. Ulee works very hard to provide for his family and is shown going the extra mile − even risking his own life to keep his family safe. His only fault is that he doesn’t ask for outside help. The loving neighbor Connie, whose last name is Hope, has a non-judgmental attitude about Ulee’s family and provides practical assistance. She demonstrates that even the strongest among us can’t go at it alone.

The movie includes other redemptive elements. Casey goes from a rebellious, leather-dressing teenager to a caring, normal-looking youth when Ulee takes her mother home. At first, Casey is upset to see her mother, who is going through withdrawal symptoms, but eventually she learns to love and care for her. Likewise, Casey’s sister, Penny, demonstrates grace to her mother by giving her gifts, when she certainly doesn’t deserve them. Furthermore, the criminal, Jimmy Jackson, recognizes the error of his ways, and his family warmly accepts him. Jimmy talks about going into the bee keeping business, and Ulee says there is always a place for him.

Usually, Summer movies are filled with shoot-em-up action fare. ULEE’S GOLD dramatically pours out slowly, like honey, both sweet and smooth. The movie is rated R because the criminals use some harsh language and Helen is seen in the throes of a drug overdose, but this movie could easily have been PG-13. There is no sex, no nudity and little violence. Certainly, none of the violence is gratuitous and meant for a thrill. This character driven story is about family and the lengths that one man will go to preserve and restore it, even at his own expense. Without guns or a karate chop, Ulee Jackson demonstrates a true screen hero.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

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Movie Reviews

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The new WWII action-thriller “Blood & Gold” exists for one reason and one reason only—to present the grisly spectacle of hordes of Nazis being shot, stabbed, crushed, poisoned, burned, and blown up real good, all in ways so spectacularly gruesome and over-the-top that to describe them as “cartoonish” would be less a criticism and more a simple statement of fact. Hell, even “Where Eagles Dare”—the 1968 epic described by Robert Zemeckis as “the one where Clint Eastwood kills more guys than anybody else in movie history”—comes across as a model of subtlety by comparison. This unabashedly trashy project from director Peter Thorwarth has its moments of invention and excitement in the early going, but the constant spray of bullets and body parts proves numbing.

Set during the closing days of the war, as Germany is about to fall to the Allies, unwilling soldier Heinrich (Robert Masser) has deserted and is desperately trying to track down the young daughter whom he has only seen once and who is the sole surviving member of his family. Sadly, he is stopped by a squad of Nazis led by the sadistic von Starnfeld ( Alexander Scheer ), who wears a Phantom of the Opera-style mask to cover some grisly injuries to the left side of his face, and is hung by his neck from a nearby tree so that he can slowly strangle to death. Alas, these are Nazis with a schedule to keep, so no sooner do they have him dangling in the air, they take off without sticking around long enough to ensure he's dead. This proves to be a good break for Heinrich because it allows him to be cut down in the nick of time by local woman Elsa ( Marie Hacke ) and taken back to the farm where she lives with her mentally challenged younger brother Paule (Simon Rupp).

As for those Nazis, they needed to get to the nearby village of Sonneberg, where they believe a fortune in gold lay somewhere in the ruins of the home belonging to the only Jewish family in town until they were burned out by their neighbors, including the duplicitous mayor (Stephan Grossman), during the early days of the war. Settling in for as long as it takes to recover the gold, von Starnfeld sends his men out to the local farms to commandeer provisions, and when they get to Elsa’s place, the soldiers add rape to their to-do list. This forces Heinrich out of hiding and leads to the first (but certainly not the last) big sequence in which he and Elsa take on their attackers and wreak bloody havoc while proving to be virtually unkillable. Afterward, Heinrich, Elsa, and Paule try to escape but find their paths again crossing with the Nazis as they also become caught up in the search for the gold, all under the ticking clock of the imminent arrival of American forces.

If this plot description gives you deja vu, it may be because it arrives only a few weeks after the release of “ Sisu ,” another action film set during the end of WWII featuring a seemingly unkillable soldier, a stash of gold, and hordes of Nazi soldiers who mostly exist only to show up for a few seconds before being killed off in some particularly nasty manner. "Blood & Gold" also bears the influence of Quentin Tarantino throughout in the form of its more audaciously grisly moments of darkly comedic violence, the occasionally ironic needle drops on the soundtrack, and a script by Stefan Barth that often plays like a hybrid of “Django Unchained” and “ Inglourious Basterds .” (Even the trailer for the film makes it look like it was created specifically for the coming attractions segment of “ Grindhouse .”)

Whether or not “Blood & Gold” succeeds will depend to a large degree on your expectations. If all you want is the pulpiest of fiction featuring lots of Nazis getting killed in many creatively grotesque ways, it's a somewhat more agreeable prospect than “Sisu.” Thorwarth (whose previous film, “ Blood Red Sky ,” features the equally loopy premise of a terrorist hijacking of an in-flight airplane in which one of the passengers turns out to be a vampire) brings style and energy to the material. Massler makes for a stalwart and luckily resilient hero, and Hacke is even better as Elsa. However, the stuff that made the Tarantino films so great—the intriguing characters, the unexpected curlicues of the narrative, and the sparkling dialogue—is not exactly on hand here. "Blood & Gold" starts to run short on ideas and ingenuity at about the halfway point, making things drag during the final stretch when it devolves into just one grisly dispatch of a Nazi after another—proving, if nothing else, that there can indeed be too much of a good thing after a while.

“Love & Gold” is not a terrible bit of Nazisploitation, but it isn’t particularly interesting either. It has its moments, and I suspect that my dad, who rarely met a WWII film he didn’t like, probably would have gotten a kick out of it. However, I found it monotonous after a while. And unless you're constantly thrilled and excited by an unceasing array of CGI-augmented bloodshed uninterrupted by plot, character, or genuine dramatic interest, I suspect you'll feel the same.

Now playing on Netflix.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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Film credits.

Blood & Gold (2023)

100 minutes

Robert Maaser as Heinrich

Roy McCrerey as Sergeant

Stephan Grossmann as Bürgermeister Richard

Juri Senft as Koehler

Tomas Karel as Hebler

Alexander Scheer as von Starnfeld

Marie Hacke as Elsa

Florian Schmidtke as Dörfler

Petra Zieser as Irmgard

• Peter Thorwarth
• Stefan Barth
• Jessica de Roolj
• Hendrik Nölle

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Gold prices are at an all-time high—but experts like Warren Buffett don't always recommend investing

Bitcoin and stocks aren't the only assets hitting all-time highs. If you want to buy an ounce of gold, it will currently cost you more than ever, at more than $2,250 an ounce . That puts it up about 38% from its last low point in 2022.

And even though gold prices are at an all-time high, many market watchers are still taking a shine to it. While the current economic scenario has been good for stocks, it's been "even more bullish for gold," Tim Hayes, chief global investment strategist at Ned Davis Research wrote in a recent note.

But even with a favorable outlook, gold should play a very different role in your portfolio than stocks or bonds, investing experts say.

Because it tends to move in different ways than more traditional investments, gold may be an appropriate way to diversify for some investors — but don't make it a major building block of your portfolio. Billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett is known to avoid it for a reason.

Why gold is up and could continue to rise

Different investors cite different reasons for owning gold. For one, it has a reputation to maintain or increase in value during periods of inflation, though that track record is spotty. For another, it's considered a store of value should paper money become significantly devalued — after all, gold has been considered currency for millennia.

It's also generally expected to hold up in so-called "risk off" markets, when investors tend to flee from riskier fare, like stocks, into perceived safe-haven assets, including gold and bonds. That means investors tend to pick up more gold in the lead-up to and during recessions and bear markets.

That makes the recent uptrend in gold a little bit strange, says Ford O'Neill, co-portfolio manager at the Fidelity Strategic Real Return Fund, a mutual fund strategy focused on shielding investors from inflation risk.

"It's been anything but [a risk off market] since October of last year," he says. "I would argue we've had what I would call an 'everything rally,' where obviously quite a few assets have done quite well."

Essentially, he says, gold is doing well because investors are boosting the price of just about everything, from stocks to bonds to cryptocurrency.

In addition to a rising tide, a weakening U.S. dollar and falling bond rates have boosted gold prices of late, says Hayes. At lower rates, bonds and cash accounts "have less of a competitive advantage" over gold, he tells CNBC Make It.

And with the Federal Reserve projected to begin cutting interest rates this year , the outlook for gold is growing rosier. The lower interest rates go, the lower the opportunity cost for investors to hold gold, which pays no interest.

"We continue to be bullish on gold," says Hayes.

What to know before buying gold

If you want to add gold to your portfolio, the easiest way is to buy an ETF which tracks the price of the yellow stuff. Doing so allows you to track gold's performance relative to the rest of your portfolio and keeps you from having to shell out big bucks to own physical gold.

But whether you hold it in your brokerage account or stash coins and bars in your safe, gold is an asset that doesn't produce anything. That's why the world's most famous long-term investor never touches the stuff.

In his 2011 letter to shareholders , Buffett pointed out that for the price of acquiring all the world's gold, an investor could buy all of the cropland in the U.S. with enough money leftover to buy ExxonMobil 16 times over. Come back a century later, and one of those options will have delivered a bounty of crops and ample dividends. The other would still be a large quantity of gold.

Over the past 15 years, an ETF tracking the spot price of gold has returned an annualized 5.5% compared with a 15.3% return in the S&P 500.

As for inflation, gold's record is a mixed bag. Despite steady inflation since 1988, gold has submitted a negative return in 18 calendar years, including 2021 and 2022 — years with particularly high inflation.

Some investors like to hold a small allocation of gold because it provides peace of mind when other assets are in decline.

"When everything else is going down the tubes, gold is the one thing that's likely going to do well," William Bernstein, the author of "The Four Pillars of Investing," recently told CNBC . "Home insurance also has a high return when you have a fire."

But over the long term, you're better off with assets that will grow and deliver returns at a compounding rate. Take it from Buffett.

"True, gold has some industrial and decorative utility, but the demand for these purposes is both limited and incapable of soaking up new production," Buffett wrote in 2011. "Meanwhile, if you own one ounce of gold for an eternity, you will still own one ounce at its end."

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‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ review: titanic team-up goes crash, smash and bash

Is this the loudest, most destructive movie ever made? Very likely

“Y ou can’t have a titan with a toothache,” quips Dan Stevens’ Trapper in Adam Wingard’s latest – and wildest – entry in the MonsterVerse franchise. Indeed you can’t. But when Kong bites down on his latest prey and gets an infected tooth, there is only one solution. Drug the great ape up to the eyeballs and yank the offending molar out with the help of a giant heavy-duty aerial vehicle before replacing it with a falsie. Trapper, “the weirdest vet in the world”, is the man in charge, arriving in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire like a cross between Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

With the MonsterVerse now reaching its fifth film, you’d think you’d seen it all when it comes to Kong and his fellow Titan, the reptilian icon Godzilla. Which is why Wingard, back in the director’s hot seat after 2021’s much-loved Godzilla Vs. Kong , cuts loose here with a balmy storyline. Yep, one that includes a Titan tooth extraction, man-eating tree monsters and, later on, a gravity-free fight as beasts float in the ether bashing seven shades out of each other.

This latest instalment takes us deeper into Hollow Earth, the untouched world in the planet’s core where Kong now resides, keeping him apart from his rival Godzilla. But when an SOS comes from this subterranean landscape, Godzilla is put on high alert. Diving into the Arctic, he heads to the lair of Tiamat, a fellow Titan, to take him down and power up, all too aware that he’s about to face off with a new threat to his dominance and mankind’s safety.

Meanwhile, Monarch – the group monitoring Kong – intercepts the same signals. Last seen in Godzilla Vs. Kong , Dr Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) decides to investigate, heading down into Hollow Earth with her deaf adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last remaining member of the Iwi tribe that lived on Kong’s Skull Island. Joining them is Trapper, bullish Monarch military man Mikael ( Chernobyl ’s Alex Ferns) and Bernie Hayes (the excellent Brian Tyree Henry), another returnee who peddles his theories on the ‘Titan Truth’ podcast.

Wingard has a riot with Hollow Earth, or the “nightmare monster hellscape” as Bernie puts it, with a lost civilisation ruled by a serene queen (Fala Chen), crazy anti-gravity technology and a fiery inner lair ruled by a violent, whip-brandishing ape called the Skar King. Kong also meets a cheeky “mini-Kong”, who isn’t entirely trustworthy, while there are other beasts that will please those steeped in Titan lore. With all these creatures heading for a major smackdown, the humans become almost irrelevant – bar comic relief – once the fighting starts.

Undoubtedly, some will carp at the straightforward plot and thin characterisation. But Wingard does try out something different here, creating long dialogue-free sequences where it’s just the monsters going toe-to-toe. With Wingard relying on gestures, grunts and groans from his alpha-beasts, it’s like watching the most expensive silent movie ever made. Naturally, there’s also some next-level destruction as famous landmarks, including the Pyramids, get trashed. And while it won’t scratch an emotional itch, if it’s barnstorming building-bashing you want, then Godzilla X Kong delivers.

• Director: Adam Wingard
• Starring: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens
• Release date: March 29 (in cinemas)
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• Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

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