Loretta Sage (Bullock), a popular but creatively unfulfilled romance novelist, finds herself stuck in a rut, still reeling from the loss of her husband. She embarks on a book tour with Alan (Tatum), the cover model who embodies the dashing hero of her adventure novels. However, the tour takes an unexpected turn when Loretta is kidnapped by Abigail Fairfax (Radcliffe), an eccentric billionaire who believes her books hold the key to finding a real lost city.
Daniel Radcliffe as Abigail Fairfax in “The Lost City”
A Parody Lost in Translation?
Hollywood’s trend of ironic reinterpretation has gone too far, often devolving into unsuccessful parody. “The Lost City,” a new project from Paramount and the Nee brothers (formerly indie filmmakers of “Band of Robbers”), seems to suffer a similar fate. While casting 90s and 2000s star Sandra Bullock in the lead role was a smart move, the filmmakers appear to have lost sight of their original vision. The result is a film that focuses too much on Bullock in a fuchsia sequined jumpsuit, offering predictability, stale jokes, and a general sense of genre fatigue.
Sandra Bullock as Loretta Sage in “The Lost City”
Familiar Territory
The plot makes no secret of its debt to Robert Zemeckis’ “Romancing the Stone,” borrowing its basic structure, including the romance novelist protagonist (Kathleen Turner), and dusting it with outdated modern elements. Escaping mercenaries in the jungle is not the same as sitting behind a laptop – that’s the truth. The team of screenwriters (in the best traditions of unsuccessful films, there are five of them) is eager to repeat the same jokes ad nauseam, admire Channing Tatum’s physique using euphemisms, and give the main antagonist, magnate Abigail Fairfax, a gender-neutral name instead of borrowing a few details from Roman Roy of “Succession.”
Cameo Appearances
Adding to the mix is Brad Pitt, who makes a brief cameo as a yoga instructor and former special forces operative. The target audience for such surprises remains unclear: is it those who still remember Zemeckis (30 and older), the TikTok generation, or fans of “Magic Mike” and “Harry Potter”?
Channing Tatum as Alan in “The Lost City”
Charisma Can’t Save It
Determined to rescue Loretta, cover model Alan (a nod to Tatum’s own modeling past) navigates fear, misunderstanding, and a lack of Latin knowledge before finally falling in love with the heroine and realizing that she is not as grumpy as she seemed. The central duo does everything they can to be memorable, from scraping leeches off intimate areas to Latin American dances. Both are quite natural, but only a few can explore the same tropes as hundreds of rom-com heroes before them in an original way, and the script primarily lets the actors down.
Radcliffe is comical, but within limits. Bullock manages to be relaxed and natural on screen: with her impressive filmography, she has worked with countless screen partners, has not lost her “star power,” and has retained her sensitivity to comedy since “Miss Congeniality.” According to the actress herself, “The Lost City” may be her last film before retiring from cinema, which would be a very disappointing and undeserved farewell.
Another disappointing aspect is the film’s visuals. Following Marvel’s trends and shooting projects as quickly as possible, the directors created the beauty of the Amazon in post-production, which makes the events feel as fleeting as a low-quality video game. Don’t judge a book by its cover, judge it by the model on the cover, the authors ask. However, neither the charisma of Bullock and Tatum nor the tiresome self-irony can justify the 1:50 runtime of a familiar attraction, shaky and not at all exciting.