Movie N0 14 of 2022
The Film: The Lost City
The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Stars: 4
Sometimes you just need a silly film to lift your spirits. A film which is that ridiculous you just have to sit back, enjoy and ponder how much sillier it can get. There are some great caper / treasure hunt films. I think of The Hunt for the Wilderpeople - which has to be one of the greatest caper films out there. There's Romancing the Stone - and the Indiana Jones movies.
The Lost City isn't of the calibre of these films, but it's still a decent, funny enjoyable diversion. The fact that it takes the piss out of itself is its saving grace. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum take all this in their stride - and they look like they're having fun.
The plot, according to RottenTomatoes.com is as such: "Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city's lost treasure from her latest story. Determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her."
That about sums it up. Loretta and Alan have to trudge through the jungle to try and escape the dastardly Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe, with the feminine junior name - and he's great as the unhinged Fairfax. Hmm, Fairfax, media tycoon - funny that). Oh and there's Beth (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Loretta's hardworking agent who tries to find her from when she realises that Loretta has been taken.
For an action movie based around the opposites attract trope, I loved the fact that a lot of the humour came from site gags and pure silliness. Bullock and Tatum milk the silly from a folding chair, some cable ties, a wheelbarrow and a very stupid magenta, sequined jump suit.
Another awesome feature of the film is a ten minute cameo by Brad Pitt, a self-help guru who comes to Alan's aid. He's hysterical - even funnier than his cameo in Deadpool II. He rather steals the movie.
Okay, this is a lightweight film, but when you have Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum together, were you really expecting to get Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or The Cherry Orchard?
This was the perfect foil for a Sunday movie when you've been working a lot of the weekend and you just want to turn off. There's just enough laughs to keep you going, and not so strangely, Channing Tatum, with his shirt off, is still good to watch.
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