Somewhere in the universe there may be a dimension where "The Wolf of Wall Street," "American Hustle" or even "The Founder" don't exist. In that world, "Gold" — in which Matthew McConaughey packed on 40 pounds of paunch to play an '80s-era prospector who may or may not be a gold-plated financial scam artist — could be noteworthy. But in this world, it feels like a story that's been told before and better.

Inspired by actual events that led to a major gold-industry scandal, the film focuses on a fictionalized character, Kenny Wells (McConaughey), a hard-drinking, chain-smoking hustler who dreams of finding the world's largest gold deposits. He teams with geologist Michael Acosta (a good Edgar Ramirez), a man scorned by many of his professional brethren but who claims to know how to find gold in inaccessible areas.

Hoping to cash in big, Wells invests everything he has in the venture. It's something that drives a wedge between him and his girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard), who doesn't comprehend his obsessions.

It's something that almost kills him as he's knocked out with malaria while prospecting with Acosta. It's something that allows him to raise millions of Wall Street dollars. It's something that bonds him with Acosta, a man equally driven and misunderstood. And it's something that might make him very rich.

Director Stephen Gaghan ("Syriana"), working from a script by Patrick Massett and John Zinman ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider"), seems to want to say something about the vagaries of capitalism, but exactly what is not very clear.

For his part, McConaughey gives a performance that's difficult to ignore, throwing himself into the role with an entertaining gusto. There's enough here to maintain interest, especially for McConaughey fans. But you know what they say about all that glitters.