Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and you know what that means...an evening of romance. For those of us who are single gals, it means dinner and a movie with our other single gal pals. So, what many ladies in my situation will be looking for is a fun romantic comedy to live vicariously through during our evening with friends. So, you might be thinking, “That new movie with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey looks like a great choice.” To you I would say, “Save your $10! Instead go see ‘Juno’ or ‘27 Dresses.’ Or better yet, rent a DVD and cozy up at home.”

“Fool’s Gold” isn’t the worst film I’ve seen, but it’s nowhere near the best – even in the fluffy, fun films category. What’s worse is that I really wanted to like it.

McConaughey stars as Benjamin Finnegan a.k.a. Finn – a poor but talented treasure hunter who makes his living tracking down buried treasure in the ocean. Finn and Tess (Hudson) met and married while Tess was on spring break from college eight years before. During their marriage, the two shared a passion for seeking buried treasure – one particular treasure, the “Queen’s Dowry” from a sunken Spanish ship, specifically haunts them.

Finn’s irresponsibility, however, finally puts Tess past her breaking point. So, she files for divorce and takes a job for Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland) as his yacht’s steward. When Finn loses both his boat and his investor after discovering where the ship is likely to be found, he seeks out a new financial backer in Nigel.

That’s the premise and the rest of the film follows the treasure hunters as they embark on a sometimes-harrowing race against Finn’s former investor Big Bunny and his former mentor Moe in the search to find the Queen’s Dowry.

While “Fool’s Gold” isn’t a terrible movie – I have most assuredly seen worse – the real disappointment I experienced was in how blah it all was. The acting was fine (Hudson, McConaughey and Sutherland are old pros), the script was uninspired and the chemistry wasn’t all that contagious or interesting. In the end, I didn’t really even care if Tess and Finn patched up their relationship – not a good sign for a film labeled a romantic, action adventure comedy.

Particularly surprising is that this was a film directed by Andy Tennant who also directed “Fools Rush In,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Hitch” – all great rom-com films. So what went wrong? I wish I could say. Maybe it was all the error of the script writers (John Claflin and Daniel Zelman) who are inexperienced at best, maybe it was a combination of factors. What I can say with certainty is that the best part of “Fool’s Gold” is the scenery – stunning views of clear, blue waters and sweeping landscapes.

So what do you do when a movie that is supposed to be a comedy doesn’t make you laugh and romantic when it doesn’t make you go “awe”? See something else.

There are tons of classic romantic comedies on DVD for rental that would be far more worthy of your time during this weekend of romance.

At least the film’s tagline got it right: “This February True Love Takes a Dive.”

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