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Posted in: Kaitlyn Booth, Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: movies, Paramount Pictures, Review, the Lost City
The Lost City Review: Exactly What It Says It Is & We Love Its Honesty
The Lost City is exactly what it says on the tin, and we appreciate its honesty. This movie isn't going to change anyone's life, but it's a good time at the movies, and there is some hidden depth there in the latter half for people looking for the emotional connection between the artist and their art.
Directors: Aaron Nee and Adam Nee
Summary: A reclusive romance novelist on a book tour with her cover model gets swept up in a kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a cutthroat jungle adventure.
The Lost City is exactly the kind of movie that would have cleaned up at the box office before the pandemic, and going into its late March opening weekend; it's going to be interesting to see if the audience for this sort of popcorn movie is still there. There really isn't anything here that is trying to change the world, and there isn't anything about The Lost City that will make it a classic for decades to come. It'll have a reoccurring spot on network television and on streaming services, and it'll be one of those movies that someone can put on, and it won't offend anyone. If you have a group of people around you, no one will dislike it, no one is going to find anything offensive about it, and if you're channel surfing and you see it on, you'll likely stop to watch it. These types of movies used to do extremely well, but in a COVID-19 world and with people not entirely comfortable returning to theaters, are beautiful movie stars doing funny things enough to return to theaters? We'll have to see; the numbers at the time of writing are looking pretty good so far.
As for the movie itself, the bare bones of The Lost City are taking all of the classic romance tropes that we've seen in books and films and turning them up to eleven, so we can take a comedic look at them. This is made even more self-aware by the fact that our heroine is an author of the exact genre of book that we are seeing play out on-screen, thus calling attention to all of the tropes happening in front of them and how things like wandering into the jungle is probably not the best idea when it comes to survival. When you have two stars like Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, both of whom have fantastic comedic timing, making these jokes and calling attention to these tropes, you can't help but get swept away by the silly little adventure that these people are on. It's a little inconsequential on the surface, and for many people, that surface reading will be more than enough, and the movie is very honest about what it is and what it intends to be right out of the gate, which is nice.
However, there is a bit more there if you're willing to look and even more so if you are a creative of any kind. Bullock is Loretta, an author who lost her husband and thus, lost her love for the genre that made her famous. The main character of her book was almost modeled on an idealized version of what her own life was like with her husband before she decided to write fiction and before he passed away. The city in question is one that Loretta and her husband spent time trying to find together. There is a disconnect between the author and her creation because she lost that connection. She has become disillusioned with not only the writing process but with her books as a whole. She doesn't see them as having any meaning; she doesn't see them as something to be proud of; she is an author ashamed of her own creation.
Loretta's journey during The Lost City isn't just about finding a lost city or a lost treasure but reconnecting with that inner voice and passion that so many artists speak of. She is reminded that as much as she might look down on her work, it means a lot to other people, and she needs to remember that others have found meaning in something that she sees as meaningless. Alan (Tatum), her cover model who has nearly taken on the identity of the character of Dash from the books in real life, found meaning in being a version of a real-life Dash for fans. It was the romance novel version of the people who get emotional at comic-cons because they see actors that mean a lot to them acting very in character. That sort of transcendent fandom love that we don't need outside of the narrow scope of, well, sites like Bleeding Cool. But The Lost City presents an option that could easily happen at a romance novel event.
Loretta is also letting go of her husband and realizing that mourning in the way that she was, isolating herself from the world and everyone around her that cared, was prolonging the entire progress. While the events of The Lost City are jarring and ridiculous even by romance novel expectations, it's the jolt that Loretta needs to realize that she wasn't living before. She was surviving, and no loved one wants that for the people that they have to leave behind when they pass. There just happen to be explosions and leaches on Channing Tatum's perfect ass. Brad Pitt is doing a bit that if it doesn't make you excited for Bullet Train later this year, nothing will. Still, it is the thing that forces this character back to reality in a way that could ring true for many people who are merely surviving their life after loss and not living it.
All of this makes The Lost City sound very heavy, and some moments are a real kick in the gut, but, in general, this is a brisk little movie where all of the aforementioned subtexts are there if you want and can be mostly bypassed if it isn't your thing. Daniel Radcliffe is on hand playing the kind of over-the-top insane villain that this genre is known for, and the unsung hero of the entire movie is Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Loretta's agent Beth who steals every single scene that she is in. The first half is a little rocky, but the latter half more than makes up for it, and this is a fun little time at the movies. The Lost City is a good time at the movies that will likely see constant replays at parties as background noise.
The Lost City
7.5/10
The Lost City is exactly what it says on the tin, and we appreciate its honesty. This movie isn't going to change anyone's life, but it's a good time at the movies, and there is some hidden depth there in the latter half for people looking for the emotional connection between the artist and their art.
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