Gold

Stephen Gaghan’s film comes out of the 1997 Bre-X affair but shifts the identities deliberately. The Calgary company moved to Nevada as the Washoe Mining Corporation, David Walsh became Kenny Wells, and Dutch prospector John Felderhof was merged with Indonesian geologist Michael de Guzman into one man, Édgar Ramírez’s Michael Acosta. The mine stayed in Indonesia; what moved was the company’s address. Screenwriter Patrick Massett says the project went unsold for years because the story was Canadian and nobody believed it was real. The director’s chair changed hands too: Michael Mann was attached first, then Spike Lee, and both left. Matthew McConaughey put on 47 pounds for the part without adding muscle. He did it over six months, gave up exercise altogether, shaved his head and wore a toupee and a set of veneers. Filming took place in the Thai jungle, in Albuquerque, on Reno exteriors and in Manhattan. The film’s one Golden Globe nomination was for original song; Gaghan wrote Gold with Iggy Pop, Danger Mouse and Daniel Pemberton, and the award went to City of Stars. A good fit if you want the partner’s knowledge left unresolved to the end rather than a documentary account. Not for anyone expecting fidelity to the Bre-X file; names, company and city were changed on purpose.