There was a time when battle of the sexes movies, thinly disguised as romantic adventure yarns, were a lot more common. It’s no wonder they’ve fallen out of fashion, as although the likes of Romancing the Stone and Six Days, Seven Nights, certainly have their charms, in abundance they can become a little stereotypical and even sexist. Such films would usually cast a city-dwelling female thrust into nature and at the mercy of all its dangers, and minus all of modern life’s luxuries. She’d be paired with an emotionally unavailable gruff and grizzly man of the land. Queue plenty of eye-rolling towards each other as they inevitably, and sometimes inconceivably, fall in love.
Now along comes The Lost City, a throwback to such adventures, with a slightly modernised spin. Whereas many lesser films would simply reverse the gender roles, here the smart decision is made to make both the film’s protagonists out of their depth. This makes it all seem a lot more equal, and also gets the audience behind them. They are equally annoying, funny, smart, and brave, just at individual times.
Sandra Bullock plays Loretta Sage, a popular novelist famed for her romance adventures. Channing Tatum is Alan, the cover model for her fan favourite creation Dash McMahon. Although Loretta is bored and frustrated with her novels, Alan revels in the attention. When her latest novel, ‘The Lost City of D’, is completed, it captures the attention of Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), an eccentric billionaire who believes it can show him the way to a real lost city and its treasures. After Loretta declines an offer to help Abigail, he has her kidnapped, leaving Alan with the belief it is up to him to save her.
The film is pure farce in its truest form, with both Bullock and Tatum once again proving themselves as masterful comedic actors. Their chemistry is essential to the film working, and is what most cinemagoers will be wanting from the film. On that front it does not disappoint in the slightest. Their “unlikely” romance always seems believable, and each character is written to enhance the other. Radcliffe is also delightful, managing to steal every scene he is in as a chaotically charming villain.
If The Lost City is guilty of anything, it’s that it doesn’t seem to have confidence. It relies too heavily on films that have come before, with a lot of the jokes and set pieces used to greater effect in other features. It’s Tatum, Bullock, and Radcliffe that are elevating their material, which is by no means poor, but it is also rather expected and familiar. Its best comedic sequence has, almost inevitably, been revealed in the trailers. The Lost City is a likable film that delivers on its promises. It’s perfectly capable on all production fronts, and the pacing keeps things moving throughout its runtime.
The Lost City
Summary
A likable film that delivers on its promises with a stand-out performance from Daniel Radcliffe who steals every scene as the chaotically charming villain.
