Fools Gold . Austin Chronicle . 03-29-99

Fools Gold

DIRECTED BY: Jeffrey Janger

REVIEWED: 03-29-99

Flimp wears gold chains and his jeans are rolled up to midcalf in order to show off his handsomely tooled and dyed cowboy boots. Still, to Sam, who sports madras shirts and poplin jackets, Flimp is halfway to the Coolsville side of Heaven. The boys make an unlikely duo, one a swaggering Latino, the other a nebbishy Jew. But in Oiltown, Oklahoma, they're each the best the other's got. One night, when the thrill of drinking beer and shooting at the cans wears off, the two hit town to investigate its newest arrival, a reputedly rich man who is actually a drug lord installed in a safe house. Things get out of hand and the boys find themselves on the run with a Buddha and some bars of gold in the back of the truck and a road-weary but stubborn lawman on their tails. They pick up a Cadillac, then a couple of girls (Perenskie and Manheim, donned in amazing green and purple Dallas Cowboy cheerleader-like costumes) and the road race is on. Skillfully shot and nicely performed, the picture hits a few landmark moments, but the long, dry stretches in between make this trip a bit long.

--Hollis Chacona

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