The big romantic-comedy adventure is a genre that fell off a cliff because they’re tough to do. The exception from the rule is 1984’s Romanising the Stone which is highlighted whenever these sorts of films are pitched.
However, with joyful pride, The Lost City could be the gateway for more of these fish-out-of-water, odd couple adventure flicks to get made.
Sandra Bullock plays popular novelist Loretta Sage, whose books are full of ancient tombs and daring adventures, but fiction doesn’t match real life. However, she’s kidnapped by the eccentric billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) to find the lost city and the treasure it holds.
The only person daring enough to save Loretta is her incredibly handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatam). Despite having no skills, he sets off on a heroic but hapless rescue mission.
The movie had me smiling from the start. I’ve always been a fan of the Oscar winner whenever she does these comedic roles where she plays the straight woman. It’s no different here because she plays it off to a tee.
Yet, we can understand and connect to her to why she’s lost all the adventure in life. As an introvert with anxiety, nothing makes me happier than not seeing or dealing with people.
This is why we always need that one person to get us out of our world and back into living life, and for Bullock’s Loretta, that’s Alan.
The Magic Mike star always kills it as a loveable goofball with a big heart, and what makes it more fun is that he’s willing to give himself to the physical comedy.
You can tell when both were on screen together, they had the most fun and it translated wonderfully to screen.
The same can be said of Radcliffe as the villain because he was great! Being incredibly charming, yet evil. Whose bitter jealousy fuels him to prove himself to his family and forces the locals to do his dirty work despite their warnings of disrupting the dead.
There’s something of a Roger Moore Bond villain about the character and his performance.
Elsewhere, Da’Vine Joy Randolph is great as publicist Beth Hatten and the Brad Pitt cameo is fantastic! He bounced off both Bullock and Tatum so well.
What the Nee brothers highlight through their terrifically written script and co-direction, as they made the jungle a character, is that we need more of these light-hearted studio movies.
The $190 million worldwide box office proves audiences what them with Paramount making a profit from its reported $68 million budget and solid 79% Rotten Tomatoes critic score.
Are There Bonus Features?
Thankfully for us bonus features fans, Paramount and the Nee siblings have spoilt us with content for both the Blu-ray and DVD.
The Blu-ray (marking the DVD features in bold) includes:
- Bloopers
- Deleted Scenes
- Dynamic Duo (Featurette on Bullock and Tatum’s chemistry)
- Location Profile (Featurette highlighting the filming location of the Dominican Republic)
- Jungle Rescue (Featurette highlighting the filming of the stunts and action set pieces)
- The Jumpsuit (Featurette on the design of Bullock’s eye-catching purple sequin jumpsuit)
- Charcuterie (A breakdown of Loretta’s big kidnapping scene)
- The Villains of The Lost City (Featurette highlighting the movies villain and henchmen)
- Building The Lost City (Featurette into building the film’s incredible lost city)
Verdict
A brilliantly funny and entertaining adventure rom-com that is a throwback and will become a home favourite. Bullock, Tatum and Radcliffe’s performances were all great but were nearly stolen by Pitt’s cameo.
The Lost City is available to Download & Keep now and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-Ray™ & DVD July 25.
Certificate – 12
Directed By – Adam Nee & Aaron Nee
Starring – Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Patti Harrison.
Running Time – 112 Minutes (1 Hour 52 Minutes)
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