The latest rom-com action-adventure, “The Lost City,” is one of the funniest romcoms you’ll see in theaters this year! Full of fun treasure hunting, larger-than-life action sequences, beautiful romance, and solid chemistry between the three leads.
The story follows reclusive romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock), and when we first meet her character, she is still grieving the death of her husband. They were both into archeology and ancient studies. However, when he died, she lost all interest in that and decided to write romance novels, an interesting career change. While on a promotional tour for her latest work, The Lost City of D, Loretta is accompanied by her handsome cover model Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum). Loretta is suddenly kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), to help him find the Lost City’s lost treasure, which was written about in one of Loretta’s novels. Abigail thinks there might be some truth to this. Alan sets off to rescue her to prove he’s as much a hero as the one he portrays on Loretta’s book covers. Without any survival skills, nothing can possibly go wrong, right…
Sandra Bullock delivers a comical performance while also being the most intelligent person in the room. Channing Tatum plays to the character’s strengths of being the charming cover model. He hilariously feeds into the idea that his character is a real-life hero because of the massive fan base he’s accumulated being a romance cover model. We all loved Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter franchise, but as the antagonist, he’s purposely unlikeable while also being able to convince us of his obsession with finding the lost treasure. He will do whatever’s necessary to find it, and nobody will stand in his way.
Now for the most exciting performance of the film. With limited screen time, Brad Pitt steals the show. He plays a former navy seal that’s into meditation and being calm. However, he has no problem flawlessly wreaking havoc on the bad guys in the most absurd ways. He’s doing this while having long beautiful, blonde flowing hair, very reminiscent of an actual romance novel cover hero. He gives one of the most eccentric performances I’ve seen in a long time.
“The Lost City,” at its core, has a theme of moving on after loss but showing us in a comedic tone. The film leans heavily into the cheesy aspects of romance novels but works for our entertainment. It found a balance of offensive humor and physical humor for a comedy. Does this treasure hunting action-comedy have the most predictable plot of all time? Yes, it does, but the film knows exactly what it is and doesn’t shy away from that. It’s a popcorn flick where you shut your mind off, have a good time, and enjoy cliche performances. The cast’s chemistry on this wild adventure is worth the price of admission and will leave a larger-than-life smile on your face.
