The Lost City
The thing about an actress like Sandra Bullock is that, if she’s in charge of a production as one of its producers, she’s capable of getting actors to act the fool because, well, who wouldn’t do anything for Sandy B? Few films has that been more on display than in “The Lost City,” and God bless her, because this is an entertaining romp.
Bullock begins the film as writing out a scenario not unlike the Well of Souls scene with the snakes in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for her main characters, Angela and Dash. As it plays out, though, Loretta Sage (her author character) starts to rethink the scenario. This isn’t the first time Loretta has written this type of Harlequin romance, but her mind just can’t get into it this time. Unfortunately, she’s on deadline, with a tour she needs to do. When that tour involves Alan (Channing Tatum), who is the cover model for her books, things can’t seem to get worse, at least until she’s kidnapped by a millionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) looking for an ancient artifact from her latest book.
If you’re having flashbacks of “Romancing the Stone,” that’s a fair comparison, and one of the things I like about “The Lost City” is that it doesn’t try to act like its doing anything particularly fresh with this material. This film is basically Bullock and her collaborators putting a distinctively Sandra Bullock comedic spin on it. This isn’t about taking the distress out of the damsel like that film did, but putting the author in the center of the adventure, and mistaking her- to an extent- as the character she writes about. Alan is not a Colton type as the male lead, although he wants to be; that’s more Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt), the muscled guy Alan met in a meditation class. Once they are all in the jungle, however, anything can happen, and- within the realm of a PG-13- most of that does happen.
Let’s go back to my opening paragraph. Sandra Bullock is very much the Sandra Bullock we’re accustomed to seeing on-screen, be it drama or comedy; she is empathetic and enjoyable at every turn. It’s nice to see Tatum again- between this and “Dog,” early 2022 has been a good reminder of what he brings to the table as a presence, and how much comedy suits him in his wheelhouse; he’s a good foil for Bullock. Pitt is very funny when he comes into the film as Trainer, and his work in this film confirms my belief that he is a goofy character actor at heart with the looks of a movie star. My favorite work in this film is from Radcliffe, who’s gone to weird, wicked choices ever since his time as Harry Potter ended, and God bless him. Here, he has the facial hair of Conor McGregor and the easy going villainy of Javier Bardem interrogating Bond in “Skyfall”- I kind of love this performance.
You’ll probably be able to figure out where “The Lost City” is going narratively, and you’ll surely be right, but there are surprises in store, and the film is fueled by the charisma of the four actors you’ll recognize, and plenty of other good moments along the way. This is a fun night at the movies.
