The Lost City is by all accounts a pretty standard riff on the Romancing The Stone formula, so much so that the 1984 Zemeckis film is even referenced early on. Directed by brothers, Adam and Aaron Nee, who also share a writing credit with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox, the film follows a jaded novelist, Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock), who has achieved enormous success with a series of romantic adventure books, but is finally through with it, finishing off her series with the final book, which her publicist, Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) isn’t all too happy about, and neither is her way-too-devoted cover model, Alan (Channing Tatum).
Things take a turn when Loretta begins her book tour, and is immediately captured by some goons. They turn out to work for Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), an eccentric billionaire who feels overshadowed by his younger brother who has taken over the family business. Abigail is obsessed with an old treasure, the “Crown Of Fire.” And he believes that with the research that Loretta has done for her books, she might be able to piece together a message in a dead language that could theoretically help find this treasure on an island where the “lost city of D” is currently being excavated.
Loretta isn’t too keen on the plan, and declines, but is forced into the situation. Alan takes this as an opportunity to help, and goes to the island to rescue her. They have some initial help, but they are soon stuck in the jungle, alone, without the proper equipment and gear, and with Abigail’s goons out on the search to take her back and kill Alan. Pretty straightforward, and like I said, a very obvious riff on films like Romancing The Stone. This isn’t as good as that film, but I will say that I had a pretty good time overall.
For a film like this to work, what you need is solid chemistry with the leads, and this case, it works. Tatum and Bullock do work well together, and I gotta say, it’s not often you see a film with a pair in which the woman is 16 years older than her male co-star, so that’s pretty cool. Both of these folks have proven themselves perfectly capable with comedy in the past, as well as action, so they are able to fit the vibe that the movie is trying to achieve with relative ease. And Radcliffe knows to ham things up as the villain.
The film has a number of really funny moments and lines. It does occasionally lean too hard on the riffing/improvisational element we see in a lot of studio comedies, and those moments don’t work as strongly. There’s also a noticeable number of what appears to be post-production punch-ups, where you’d have moments within scenes, or as a scene ends, and the characters are facing away from the camera, and a random line is thrown in. It happens enough time that it did come across as odd, but a couple were genuinely amusing.
The adventure part of this film is mostly what you expect, it hits a lot of familiar beats, but it ultimately works in service of the comedy. The action isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s functional. The only time when the action makes an impression is an early bit with the wildly overqualified Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) coming in to assist Alan in rescuing Loretta, or rather, it was more Alan assisting Jack…or really he doesn’t much of anything. But anyhow, there are some fun action beats with that character. The Nee brothers, who come from the indie world prior to this, don’t do a lot stylistically, fitting right in to the studio comedy look and feel, with only a handful of flourishes that makes it seem more like a legit adventure film.
There really isn’t much to say about a film like The Lost City. It’s a cheeky, silly, and fun comedy with charming leads, and it doesn’t really demand a whole lot from its audience. I’m not saying that in a bad way, it just is what it is. And in terms of being that kind of movie, yeah, it gets the job done. The cast is game for the tone, and bounce off each other well. It moves at a decent enough clip to keep you engaged, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s not something I would necessarily revisit over and over again, especially considering how much better the films it references are, but it’s a nice and totally harmless distraction for anyone who just wants something light and amusing. Plus, in the age of streaming, it’s nice to see a studio put out a comedy like this in theaters and it’s fun to see with a crowd. Movies like this are perfect date night material.
The Lost City is now out in theaters.