The Lost City movie review: Adventure comedy loaded with déjà vu, saved somewhat by Channing Tatum, Sandra Bullock

For a certain kind of mood, one filled with patience, forgiveness and the need to pass a few hours of time, The Lost City might almost be what the doctor ordered.

Pradeep Menon April 08, 2022 08:41:04 IST

2.75/5

cast
Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt
director
Aaron Nee, Adam Nee
language
English

Curiosity rarely kills the movie watcher; the worst it can lead to is disappointment. Aaron and Adam Nee’s The Lost City, involves a treasure hunt. So I will admit: the film held my attention far longer than I expected it to.

Who does not like a good old big-screen Legends of the Hidden Temple-style chase through mountains and caves in the quest for some elusive prize once in a while? All I had to do was adjust to the persistent sense of déjà vu I had all through watching it. (Please note, I do not use the word ‘persistent’ lightly.)

There is a Channing Tatum taking his shirt off. There is a wise-ass Sandra Bullock in a crisis. Bullock has literally made a wise-ass film called Our Brand Is Crisis (2015), and I believe her. Throw in a journey to a mysterious island. Has there been a movie about a Journey 2 some Mysterious Island before? I do not know, you tell me. I was almost certain a Rock would show up. (Chris or The - take your pick.)

Let me déjà vu you some more. Bullock plays Loretta Sage, an author who is forced by a mysterious rich fellow into an adventure-filled quest because her latest book contains symbols that indicate she might be able to translate a treasure map. Unlike Robert Langdon, Loretta has no real interest in such pursuits. She would rather just sort her mid-life crisis out.

Unfortunately, just like the déjà vu, the wealthy tyke is persistent. Daniel Radcliffe walks straight out of Now You See Me 2, and into this film to play this particularly smarmy character with daddy issues. Surely, Michael Caine is in this treasure island movie as well? Did he play Nicholas Cage’s father in one of the National Treasure films? No, I think that was some other old white man. Who played Jumanji in The Da Vinci Code? Okay, I exaggerate.

But I kid you not, The Lost City had me cross-fading between moving images from across decades nearly throughout its 114-minute runtime.

Still, the Brothers Nee were clearly aware of what this kind of fairy-tale action comedy demanded. It does not instantly have the gravitas of a clever spoof, but it is not meant to be taken seriously either. The author at the centre of it writes out her own fantasies, and they turn out to be blockbusters. Romance, erotica, adventure, the works. She is done with this particular franchise of fantasy though. She is bored of the same pretty boy (Tatum) featuring on the cover of her novels. Perhaps age has something to do with it. In this cul-de-sac she finds herself in, she needs some new magic to carve her way out.

Sensuousness and romance are non-negotiable on this journey for her. So are innuendo and woke-bait. At one point, Channing Tatum’s Alan tries to explain to Loretta why it is possible that a woman could mansplain to a man. Tatum’s puppy eyes do not sell the argument itself, but the pair of them do manage to sell the scene. It is one of the few flourishes you will see in a film that is otherwise coasting on unabashed commitment to its general sense of harmless, good-natured familiarity.

One of the more significant flourishes in the film happens to be a cameo by a preening Brad Pitt. There is something joyous about the idea of Pitt revelling in his own beauty that, in those moments, makes the film reach for more than it ever intended to. It is a small part, but something about his bitty appearance lingered, in terms of how you then looked at the film. (It reminded me, strangely, of Ranveer Singh’s scene-stealing turn in Sooryavanshi.)

Luckily, the Tatum-Bullock chemistry manages to make up for Pitt’s later absence.

It sounds quite layered if I say that Loretta is perhaps writing her latest novel as we are watching it play out in her head, but the film does not bother with such tripe.

You are almost waiting for the film to turn sappy, and it duly obliges, right when we are at the big treasure reveal. The romantic track between Alan and Loretta crept up on me when I was not looking. There is lust, but also awkwardness. She does not take the hunk of beep seriously, but she does want a bit out of it. The author judges the cover model by the cover. He has got only marginally more substance to him than that, but that is enough in the world of this film. The hunk of beep has feelings, and Miss Uncongeniality is here for it.

Radcliffe’s character Abigail Fairfax makes you want to swipe left. In resolving his daddy issues, he should have invested in a start-up instead. That would have been a different film, perhaps a mildly better one. This particular character perhaps needed another smug British actor to play him.

Writers Oren Uziel (Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, 22 Jump Street) and Dana Fox (What Happened in Vegas, Couples Retreat, Cruella) appear to bring their respective kinds of genre expertise for the mishmash that is The Lost City. The comedy is almost refreshing. The Lost City is almost fun while for almost as long as it lasts. For a certain kind of mood, one filled with patience, forgiveness and the need to pass a few hours of time, this might almost be what the doctor ordered.