Starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. Rated PG.

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey made their lukewarm debut as an on-screen couple in 2003’s marginally cute How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Now, they’re back as totally different characters—sort of.

In Fool’s Gold they play newly divorced treasure hunters who have been fighting and making up for the better part of eight years. This time around, their pairing is being marketed as if we’re witnessing the triumphant return of a slacker Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Don’t fall for the hype. Fool’s Gold may be pretty, but it has all the intelligence of a palm tree.

Granted, director and coscreenwriter Andy Tennant does his best to play to the comedic strengths of his leading couple. As Ben “Finn” Finnegan, an irresponsible charmer who’s on the verge of discovering a fortune in sunken treasure, McConaughey shamelessly milks his traditional role as everybody’s favourite male bimbo. Hudson endows the long suffering Tess with the kind of appeal that makes terminal exasperation look cute. But it doesn’t matter how many times she rolls those big eyes or, for that matter, how often McConaughey displays his pecs. No eye candy can make up for a movie that feels 30 minutes too long.

The plot boils down to Tess and Finn trying to get the long-lost Spanish riches they’ve been tracking for years before they can be stolen by a truly badass rapper (Kevin Hart). There’s a sporadically interesting turn by Donald Sutherland as a British billionaire who helps out our bickering lovebirds, but the cliché-ridden script plays like someone started to write a formula romantic comedy before switching to second-rate Elmore Leonard. If you’re into that, I have an ancient treasure map for you. All you have to do is wait for the ink to dry.