Geek Review: The Lost City

In any movie, a macguffin, be it an object, event, or character, serves as a plot device to move the events along, even if it lacks any importance in the larger narrative. In Adam and Aaron Lee’s romantic comedy, The Lost City, the hook that draws us along are series leads Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum.

With a little help from Brad Pitt, but everything else is rather forgettable.

There’s nothing intrinsically new or wrong about the film that sees Bullock as nerdy writer Loretta Sage, and Tatum as her book’s cover model, Alan Caprison. At the launch of her latest book, Loretta declares that she will kill off the character Dash McMahon (whom Alan depicts on all the covers), much to the chagrin of her publicist, Beth Hatten (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Hoping to change her mind, Alan witnesses her kidnapping, and goes on a wild heroic chase to save her.

Adding to the mix is Daniel Radcliffe’s Abigail Fairfax, the film’s main villain who needs Loretta to decipher a pictogram that will lead to a lost burial and home to a fabled ruby necklace. Add in Pitt who appears in an extended cameo as a mercenary hired to save the writer, and you realise that the film features a star-studded cast that may seem like a cash-grab film doused in rom-com tropes, but once the movie starts, you’ll realise it’s quite a diamond in the rough. 

Within the first ten minutes of the film, it is clear as day that the two leads are complete opposites and that viewers are in for an enemies to lovers type of situation. Bullock retains enough of her crazy wackiness that audiences so adore, and it feels like she’s simply cruising through, much like Loretta’s writing that she no longer values. Bullock is also finally returning to her comedy chops after a slew of serious roles in movies like Bird Box, The Unforgivable and Gravity. She pulls a little Miss Congeniality with the whole smart woman who doesn’t really care about fancy clothes and getting a man. In The Lost City, Loretta learns the hard way to not judge a book by its cover, but she’s more relatable rather than patronising for the most part.

Now Tatum is absolutely natural at playing the sweet little himbo, so when Alan steps out of the plane and waltzes into a forest with a neck pillow and a tiny suitcase packed with Loretta’s favourite snacks, you can’t help but find him absolutely adorable. 

For a long time, moviegoers know him as a male stripper turned model who later became an object of desire for straight women when he danced in Step Up and of course, the Magic Mike franchise. He’s also played more serious romantic lead roles like Dear John and The Vow. As far as the female gaze goes, Tatum is the sexy, dreamy man that you want to save you from a kidnapping and Alan is everything but that. The character Alan is as versatile as the actor himself, later revealing a much softer and grounded side of him as the story progresses. 

We watch the unlikely pair warm up to each other over a fire (how romantic) as Loretta very sexily narrates putting face masks over Alan’s eczema. There are a few tender moments in the film that fit the romance genre, but it skews towards comedy and adventure-action for the most part as they get into silly antics, whilst trying to run escape from Fairfax, who is hell-bent on finding the lost treasure written in Loretta’s book.

Radcliffe as a villain is super refreshing and entertaining. The boy who lived now becomes the man who easily kills and manipulates when needed. He’s no big bad wolf, or a formidable villain that makes you shake at the knees, but his little panicked screams and frustrated outbursts are comical, with a performance rather similar to his turn in Guns Akimbo, except instead of being the runner, he’s doing the chasing.

The Lost City almost plays as a Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones parody, which if you loved either franchise, makes it a delightful watch as there are a few subtle jabs and references. The movie also has a number of explosive, action-packed sequences that are a lot of fun to watch too.

Although such elements are essential so that the movie could call itself an action-adventure, it stands out from recent films of the same genre like Uncharted for example, as the humorous yet tender moments between our protagonists make the movie feel more human. 

The movie also doesn’t subscribe to gender roles where an intelligent hunky man saves a helpless woman in need. Yes, Alan aims to save Loretta because he has a major crush on her and Loretta does need the help, but both parties are seen as equals who after getting to know one another much better, can put their heads together and find ways to escape traps and get to safety. 

With all these in mind, there’s no doubt that The Lost City is a delight to watch, especially with some of Hollywood’s bests fronting the film. Never would we have thought that Bullock and Tatum could convince us that they would potentially fall in love (much like Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal), but when you have a talented and funny cast who know how to build rapport and chemistry over a couple of jokes, it’s easy. 

That said, as much as Bullock, Tatum and Radcliffe are professional at what they do, The Lost City suffers from poor writing. The movie mentions that Loretta was once married and that writing these schmuck novels are just means for her to financially support herself but never cared to explain how her husband died, or how that inevitably affected her connection (or rather, lack of) with Alan. It doesn’t help that said dead husband was brought up numerous times and had two scenes that were somewhat dedicated to him. 

Alan revealed to be not that dumb and that he has just as much heart as he does hunk was a lovely turning point. His emotional vulnerability, allyship with the female experience and shedding of what plenty of rom-com films present as ‘masculinity’ is absolutely refreshing but again, were not explored. 

The Lost City will get a couple of chuckles out of you, but certain lines felt lazily written. Who thought calling an old grandmother a slut was peak comedy? Not us. Joy Randolph has her own side little adventure in her search for Loretta and Alan, and whilst she steals every scene she’s in, her character is reduced to the Black best friend whose whole life and worth centres around the White protagonist. The Lost City does attempt to turn that trope on its own head at some point, but like a few of its lines in the film, the attempt falls flat. 

Still, Bullock’s return to the genre has been long overdue and Tatum’s performance just shows how this actor can quite literally, do it all. Radcliffe as a villain is perhaps a new favourite genre of ours that we’d love to see more of and Pitt’s short yet exciting appearance has us looking forward to the actor’s Bullet Train movie (which also stars Bullock). The little parody and nods to fan-favourite action franchises keep the movie relevant and entertaining, and its attempts to flip gender roles and subtly divert away from typical rom-com tropes are greatly welcomed.