"Fool's Gold," a romantic adventure yarn about treasure hunters in search of a legendary 18th-century galleon lost at sea, concerns 40 priceless chests.

Make that 41 priceless chests, counting Matthew McConaughey's. He plays deep-sea diver Finn, constitutionally incapable of keeping a shirt on and currently being divorced by Tess (Kate Hudson).

Finn is losing his shirt financially, too. Just when he locates the wreck, his boat catches fire and sinks (the film's one, if not only, very funny scene). Then he borrows money from some gangstas, who come after him as well as his treasure.

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'Fool's Gold'

2 stars = Mediocre
Ratings explained

• Starring: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Donald Sutherland.
• Rating: PG-13 for action violence, some sexual material, brief nudity and language.
• Web site: 'Fool's Gold'

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Tess, meanwhile, is busy working on tycoon Donald Sutherland's mother-of-all-yachts and being appalled by Sutherland's dumbest-of-all-daughters (Alexis Dziena).

Can Finn persuade the bored billionaire, the bikini bimbo and the ex-wife-to-be to join forces with him and go after those pieces of eight? Will Tess and Finn's love and sense of adventure be rekindled? Do all gold doubloons from 1715 stay as shiny as the day they were minted?

Oh, never mind. The fewer questions, the better.

Director Andy Tennant ("Hitch") manages a few nice underwater scenes, but beware his "action" sequences -- for the most part, cartoon villains and heroes knocking each other out with bats, shovels and frying pans. No guns or gore, at least.

Sutherland, with his British accent, is restrained as well as strained. "Serious" music kicks in periodically when he gets fatherly.

Strange-looking Ewen Bremner has amusing moments as Finn's Borat-like Ukrainian sidekick, and there's a mildly funny running gag involving two gay chefs on the boat.

Harmless enough. But the real shipwreck here is Tennant's woefully dumb script (co-written by John Claflin and Daniel Zelman) -- these are strictly Pirates of the Quotidian.

McConaughey and Hudson were previously teamed in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (2003), evidently if not providentially justifying this rematch. Mac as a surfer dude-turned-007 is, shall we say, unlikely. Katie's a cutie -- and better actor. Who fooled Goldie's daughter into "Fool's Gold"?