The Lost City centres around successful romance novelist Loretta (Sandra Bullock). Still grieving the loss of her archaeologist husband, she forces herself to write one more book in her popular romance-adventure series using research that she and her husband completed together, and calls it The Lost City of D.
After the release, Loretta agrees to go on a book tour, and Alan (Channing Tatum), her corny cover model, joins her. The first event goes terribly wrong, and Loretta tries to escape but is kidnapped instead by eccentric millionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), who reads her book and is convinced that Loretta knows the whereabouts of a lost city and the priceless Crown of Fire. After seeing Loretta’s kidnapping, Alan, thinking he’s a hero like his persona Dash, ventures after her, enlisting the help of ex-Navy Seal Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) in order to find her.
Trainer rescues Loretta, then gets shot in the head (it was just a cameo, after all), but after a silly escape, Fairfax’s lackeys relentlessly pursue Alan and Loretta. They have their adventure and eventually find the Crown of Fire and fall in love.
As I just typed that summary, I thought, wow, this sounds so dumb. Yes, the plot was, indeed, dumb, and upon reading the synopsis, this film sounded suspiciously like Romancing the Stone. The Lost City was basically a formulaic adventure rom-com, and yes, it was an updated Romancing the Stone, with a hint of The Mummy (1999).
Honestly, I don’t really watch romantic comedies anymore; I’m far too cynical, but I ultimately saw this film for two reasons: I like Sandra Bullock, and there wasn’t anything else out that I hadn’t already seen.
Overall, the plot was thin and predictable. Some of the jokes were also flat and cringe. Bullock’s physical comedy, paired with the sparkly fuchsia jumpsuit, was what I found most amusing and Tatum’s character and performance were reminiscent of his character in She’s the Man (2006). Radcliffe was the standard, kooky billionaire villain with an English accent and obvious daddy issues.
Chemistry was an issue; there was zero romantic chemistry between Bullock and Tatum. At the beginning of the film, it was evident that Alan had puppy dog feelings for Loretta that she was oblivious to. It was unbelievable that Loretta, a self-proclaimed sapiosexual, would be into Alan’s airhead Fabio character, there was more chemistry between Bullock and Pitt for the few brief minutes they shared on screen.
That all sounded harsh, but I liked the film more than I would admit. The fact that the plot was predictable was comforting. It was mindless entertainment and precisely what I needed in a movie.
6.7
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I’m a Data Analyst, from the land of Matthew McConaughey. I’m an avid movie-goer and love seeing films in theaters. My most recent favorite films are Good Time, Only Lovers Left Alive, TENET, and England is Mine. When I’m not at the movies, I’m either reading or watching obscene amount of true crime and historical documentaries.
