REEL CRITICS:

“Fool’s Gold” desperately wants to channel the funny adventure trip that “Romancing the Stone” delivered some 20 years ago. But this lame attempt at romantic comedy with a treasure-hunt sideshow attests to the incompetence of everyone involved in this production. Episodes of “Gilligan’s Island” have greater depth and purpose than this film ever attains.

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey spend lots of screen time in their bathing suits in lovely tropical settings. This is no doubt the main purpose for this PG-13 date movie opening in time for Valentine’s Day. They are beautiful, but their relationship has all the flair and chemistry of a Woody Allen romance.

Donald Sutherland plays the wealthy mentor to the treasure hunt effort. His bikini clad daughter displays her charms as a diversion for older male antagonists. They should both be embarrassed at their roles in this turkey. Lightweight and fluffy in the extreme, this film won’t be remembered by Oscar time.

‘Jumper’ needs sequel to clarify plot

A very interesting premise is poorly developed in the new science fiction adventure “Jumper.” Hayden Christensen plays a handsome young teenager who suddenly discovers he can teleport himself at will to anyplace on the planet. As he is whisked away, he instantly escapes his current situation and leaves a nasty home life behind.

His new power leads to many exploits. He has tea on the Sphinx in Egypt, gets chased in the Roman Coliseum and punched out on the Eiffel Tower. He lands in Tokyo, London, New York and Las Vegas. He jumps into bank vaults where he simply takes all the cash he needs to maintain his lavish lifestyle. Then he discovers that there are others like him. A relentless pursuer played by Samuel L. Jackson appears who chases the jumpers through space and time.

This has the makings of a fun fantasy movie with “Matrix” overtones. But Director Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”) fails to live up to his potential with this choppy, incoherent thriller that never fills in the blanks. Bits and pieces of historical references are thrown into the plot without context or resolution. Nothing is explained. The special effects exist only for themselves without purpose or meaning. This film begs for a sequel and needs one clarify what’s going on.

Happy endings don’t live forever in fairy tale

I didn’t expect to like “Definitely, Maybe,” which looked like another paint-by-numbers chick flick. But the beauties here are more than skin deep (with maybe one exception).

The film is told as a modern-day fairy tale by Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) to his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) on how he met her mother.

The flashbacks start out in 1992 at Bill Clinton’s campaign headquarters — a fitting analogy, as they all deal with idealism, infatuation and disillusionment. No happy endings here.

Will tells his daughter he’s had only three serious relationships in his life — college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), bohemian journalist Summer (Rachel Weisz) and April (Isla Fisher), the free spirit.

Each woman has her flaws, which makes her all the more interesting. All three — make that four, including Maya — seem to be much more self-aware and confident than Will himself. Will he ever figure out what he wants to be when he grows up, and which lady will turn out to be the love of his life?

The ladies are charming and terrific, as is Kevin Kline as Summer’s boyfriend. In his too-few scenes, Kline conveys more heart and soul than Reynolds, with his distractingly placid Ken-doll features, could ever hope for.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.