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cut/ Matthew McConaughey in “Fool’s Gold.” Photo: Warner Bros.

cut/ Cedric the Entertainer in “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.” Photo: Universal Pictures

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Fool’s Gold

After years of searching, ne’er-do-well treasure hunter Finn (Matthew McConaughey) and ex-wife Tess (Kate Hudson) come close to locating a sunken Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys. But they are not the only ones after the booty, with murderous rap star Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart) proving to be a particularly vicious and implacable rival. This sluggish, utterly predictable hybrid does none of its multiple genres much credit. Action scenes alternate between cartoonishly over-the-top and casually brutal. The comedy produces few laughs with its flat, obvious humor. McConaughey and Hudson share little chemistry, perhaps because what is no doubt supposed to be his rakish charm comes across as pure sleaze. C-

Kinsey Scale: 2 (The eye-candy quotient is high, with lots of swimsuit shots. Two longtime gay partners are among the characters on the treasure hunt. McConaughey appeared in “Boys on the Side.” Hudson played a lesbian in “Dr. T and the Women.” Co-stars with queer credits include Donald Sutherland, Alexis Dziena, Ewan Bremner, and Ray Winstone.)

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins

Roscoe Jenkins (Martin Lawrence) has abandoned his small-town upbringing and successfully reinvented himself as a talk-show host named “Dr. RJ Stevens,” complete with glamorous L.A. lifestyle and reality-TV star girlfriend (Joy Bryant). But when he visits his Deep South home for his parents’ wedding anniversary, he discovers that his family and friends aren’t impressed by him, old rivals still have the power to humiliate him, and old romances aren’t as faded as he thought. In other words, it’s a “stay put” movie, a reactionary warning against discarding conservative family values. The city loses, the country wins, and home is where they hate you unless you’re just like them. Meanwhile, Lawrence comes off as bitter and humorless, while co-stars Mike Epps and Mo’Nique are given all the sporadic comedy heavy lifting. Don’t enter this unwelcoming home. C-

Kinsey Scale: 1 (Lawrence is accused, at one point, of allowing his soccer-playing son to become “sissified” because he’s not helping him learn to play baseball. Co-stars Nicole Ari Parker and Margaret Avery have played gay characters in “The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love” and “The Color Purple,” respectively. Michael Clarke Duncan appeared in the lesbian-themed comedy “D.E.B.S.”)

ALSO IN THEATERS:

Alvin and the Chipmunks

This is squarely a children’s film, neither great nor awful. Adult enjoyment is an afterthought. C+

Atonement

Christopher Hampton has written a literate, haunting script, the handsome period drama getting an extra lift from Keira Knightley and James McAvoy’s wrenching performances as the heartbroken couple. A

The Bucket List

Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson seem to be having a good time, but it’s unlikely that you will. C-

Cloverfield

ItÕ’s the first summer movie of 2008, thankfully delivered in January, one that the real summer movies are going to have a tough time beating in the thrills-per-minute department. Prepare to come out of your seat. A

How She Move

This indie film is smarter than all of those movies combined and willing to approach real life in a loose, non-focus-group-tainted manner that allows the characters to seem like actual human beings instead of a bunch of music video dancers trying their hands at acting. B

Juno

A smart script and standout performances, especially from the immensely talented Ellen Page, lift “Juno” out of the teen romantic comedy heap and make it an engaging, female-centered alternative to “Knocked Up.” A