The Lost City

I'm worried that audiences may be turned off by the very generic, but very intentional "old school" vibe a lot of aspects of The Lost City's marketing gives off. 

Take it's title and this poster for starters, throw in a tag line of "The jungle isn't ready for this kind of action!" and I think you have a deliberate aim at some nostalgia that may go over many heads. 

I'm hopefully going to articulate in my review - as well as many other critic reviews that you can read - why The Lost City is an enjoyable and entertaining adventure. 

In many ways, it reminds me of some of Bullock's most endearing films like Miss Congeniality or The Proposal where they may not have lit critic's worlds on fire back in the day, but have found a lot of life in the movie-on-TV realm many years after the fact. 

In other ways, The Lost City is quite different than those, it's a romcom dressed with an extra dose of comedy and action, much to the benefit of the film. And sure, it's not going to be winning awards any time soon, but with a delightful cast of characters, a decent/good romantic comedy at its core, and two leads that have done this before, I very much enjoyed The Lost City as did my nearly-full audience on a Thursday evening.

Bullock plays Loretta, a romance novelist who lost her archeologist husband many years ago and has lived a sheltered life ever since. Tatum as Alan, has been her cover model for the entire book series. Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) comes in and kidnaps Loretta because her husband's old quest - and her new book - actually has some historical details right and he's after a treasure. The setup appears weak to start, but it eventually layers upon itself with Loretta's character arc and her relationship with Alan. I mentioned the decent/good romcom piece earlier because it's no better or worse than that. As most romantic comedies are, it's predictable, and the setup is a tad weird/haphazard, but it's also harmless and Bullock and Tatum are the film's not-so-secret weapons.

Interesting outfit choices for the middle of the jungle!

Tatum doing the most here...

We already know that Bullock is a lot of fun in this space as an "everywoman" who we all love, both men and women alike. She's a bonafide movie star, a quiet one perhaps, but a big one nonetheless. Tatum brings a lot of his similar charm as the Jump Street series here as a lovable goof with more to him than just his good looks. Together, they're a fun pair and their chemistry is completely fine for a film that doesn't necessarily need it to be on fire. A few scenes show them riffing off each other well and in funny ways, among all the disaster and mayhem their adventure takes them on. While they're very much the stars, they have strong competition in the likes of side characters like Radcliffe and Brad Pitt. The former is a deranged, uber-rich villain and you can tell Radcliffe is having a tremendous time playing the role. Same goes for Pitt as an ex-military tracker who comes along for the ride.

The only main issue I had with The Lost City is a combination of its runtime and its "hit rate". The film feels a little long - not by much - but I found a lot of that reason was to a high percentage of jokes in the back end that don't land. They're not cringe-worthy bad, but just one of those awkward moments where there's clearly a gag or joke on screen and the audience isn't reacting. Often right around the corner, a very funny bit comes back, but The Lost City could have used either i) a trimming to shave off 5-10 minutes or ii) a second pass through at the script. The aforementioned Jump Street series is actually an interesting call back because of how consistently funny those were, while I would say The Lost City's back half hit rate on jokes may even be less than 50%. 

Aside from that complaint, I do feel like The Lost City is a film that, while it hopefully finds life and success in theaters, may have its legacy defined by the TV views afterwards. It's one of those pleasant, prime examples of a movie you find one weekend day, settle in to watch it, and come away with a smile on your face. 

CONS

• Might be a little too long but...
• ...I think that feeling stems more from the back half not landing jokes well. You have either crickets or really funny stuff with no in-between
• Rom-com elements are predictable and the setup is messy
• Almost feels like it tries to do too much with its side characters and some of their arcs

PROS

• Bullock and Tatum are very good leads with enough chemistry and charisma to carry the film through its weaker moments
• Genuinely can be very funny. Despite a poor hit rate on jokes, the ones that do hit are a hoot
• Radcliffe as our villain is a delight, as is Pitt as a hippie-super-soldier (who gets a well done action sequence to boot!). Most all other side characters get the laughs they came for
• Entertaining and enjoyable. Time will tell if its endearing nature gives it legs, but knowing Bullock's library, I wouldn't be surprised

Rath's Review Score | 7/10