Well, Shame on Us

February is a bad month for movies and weather. Outside: slush and

mud. At the Cineplex: much the same. This is the time of year when studios hedge their bets. They bet that if the weather is crummy enough, people will go and see just about anything - the pale romances, slight comedies, and plainly awful titles that are released between

the end of the holiday awards season, and the beginning of spring

hits. For a week or two, midwinter vacations are not only encouraged,

but coerced. And so I find myself in the ticket holder's line for "Fool's Gold," a romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson as a pair of soon-to-be-divorced treasure hunters.

McConaughey plays Benjamin "Finn" Finnegan, a devoted comber of

beaches and surveyor of sunken ships - at least, when he's not broke.Having sunk the last of his savings, Finn has also exhausted the affections of his wife, Tess (Hudson), who, although understandably upset by her husband, is none the less tanned for it.

No shirt, no shoes, "Fool's Gold" is set on the beach in Key West, presumably to allow McConaughey the maximum amount of time in his swim trunks.

Similar consideration is given to Hudson's navel.

McConaughey is a likable actor, but he doesn't always work hard.

(That said: you probably wouldn't either if you were as doted upon by the editors of People Magazine as he is.) The actor gives a

scattered performance - a lot of running, waving, and banging into things - as though his brain had been damaged from too much time underwater.

His wife certainly thinks so.

Tess dreams of resuming her Ph.D. in Chicago. As an actress, Hudson is perfectly pleasant, but she doesn't pick the best parts. Aside from her bruised and cagey performance in "Almost Famous," where she played a rock 'n' roll stray,

it's hard to tell one performance from another.

Surprisingly, "Fool's Gold" is credited to Andy Tennant, who previously directed the lighter-than-air "Hitch." Of course, "Hitch" starred Will Smith, an actor ordained by charm. For their part,

McConaughey and Hudson don't show much magnetism. There are a few

scenes where Tennant's direction seems wildly off the mark, as when Hudson

hits McConaughey in the head with a golf club. Scenes of warring

spouses are famously difficult to film. In my mind the opening scene of "The Philadelphia Story" remains the standard, when Cary Grant plants Katherine Hepburn, face first, out the door. A collapsing

marriage is condensed into a single, furious movement.

"Fool's Gold" is less economical. Surrounding the leads are a dozen or so

supporting cast members. These include, but are not limited to, a

millionaire (Donald Sutherland); his superficial daughter (Alexis Dziena); a tough-talking but loving gay couple; a murderous rapper; an old Southern seadog, and a Ukrainian bachelor, although to tell you the truth, I could never figure out what, exactly, he was doing there.

Most likely it had something to do with "The Queen's Dowry," an

18th-century Spanish treasure that vanished near Key West in a storm.

After Finn discovers clues to the whereabouts of the treasure, he drags his ex-wife and the rest of the cast in tow to find it. This,

in turn, leads to an old treasure map, boat chases, underwater adventure, airplane crashes, sunken treasure, and more bathing suits.

When "Fool's Gold" ended, I was surprised to learn that McConaughey and Hudson had, in fact, acted together before, in a movie released some four years ago.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, well, "Fool's Gold."

"Fool's Gold" is rated PG-13 for action violence, some sexual material, brief nudity and language.

It is playing at Cinerom in Torrington and Winsted, CT, and at The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY.