The Claim (2000)

[Max]

A very slow movie, but the story is set against the backdrop of the California gold rush and the CPR joining rail lines from the east coast to the west coast. Towns were set up surrounding gold claims, and the money had nowhere to go except to the local saloons and brothels. As the railway extended, towns would try and bribe or threaten the chief engineer to pass the railway through their town in order to bring a huge boost of tourism to the town's economy.

This is the story of a man who sold his wife and daughter in order to get the gold claim, and built a town only to see it get bypassed by the railway.

Long, slow, potentially boring. The lesson here is no matter how successful you are, if you don't conserve your money, it will flow to those who supply basic needs (in this case whiskey and women). Also, there are some things more important than money (hardly seems possible, but its true).