"The Lost City" fitfully amusing, entirely reliant on Bullock and Tatum's chemistry

The Lost City (2022)

A novelist practically lives out one of her own romantic adventures in the fitfully amusing romantic adventure-comedy “The Lost City.” If that sounds a bit like “Romancing the Stone,” borrowing the blueprint from Robert Zemeckis’ entertaining (and tightly written) 1984 genre hybrid is hardly a bad source from which to borrow. Where this light, undemanding romp differs is that it largely relies on the goodwill of Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, who can just show up and be fun to watch. If only the writing were funnier to consistently match the actors’ spirited efforts, but there are far worse ways to spend an evening than in "The Lost City." 

In a welcome return to her romantic-comedy bread and butter, Sandra Bullock plays Loretta Sage, an award-winning but uninspired romance novelist who hasn’t really set foot outside her house since the death of her archaeologist husband. She’s just finished the last installment of her popular but increasingly dumbed-down series, and Loretta is prepared to make this the last one. On the day of her book tour, Loretta takes the stage with her hunky Fabio-like cover model Dash, whose real name is Alan (Channing Tatum). After Loretta storms out of there, she is more or less kidnapped and taken to see the mogul heir under the gender-neutral name of Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), who won’t take no for an answer. Fairfax needs Loretta to translate the symbols on a parchment map so he can find the legendary “Crown of Fire” jewels inside a tomb on a remote island before a volcano erupts. Before tracking Loretta by GPS and heading to the island himself, Alan enlists the help of a former meditation retreat trainer, highly trained former Navy SEAL Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) for a rescue mission. In the process, a real adventure—and spontaneous matchmaking—might be what Loretta needs to reinvent herself.

The meta device that visualizes Loretta’s writing process might be the most clever element in “The Lost City.” Imagining herself as her own protagonist Dr. Angela Lovemore and being tied up alongside Dash McMahon in another treasure-hunting scenario, Loretta edits her own imagination as she pecks away on her laptop to hastily finish her allegedly final novel, “The Lost City of D.” From there, writer-directors Aaron Nee & Adam Nee (2015’s “Band of Robbers”) and screenwriters Oren Uriel and Dana Fox set up a solid-enough hook ripe for screwball hilarity, but they mostly settle on a silly, predictable formula in the jungle with a less-than-exciting McGuffin to find. There are some dead spots and not many big laughs, but nevertheless, the energy level is kept so high by the hustle of its stars. 

Sandra Bullock is effervescent and ready to sell any physical comedy thrown her way, whether that's wearing a sequined purple jumpsuit (it’s on loan!) most of the time and being strapped to a chair in a wheelbarrow and then stuffed into a Bajaj Qute quadricycle. Making peevishness look endearing, Bullock also makes Loretta worth rooting for as a smart, still-grieving self-proclaimed "sapiosexual" deeply connected to the wonders of the world and tired of giving the lizard-brained masses what they want (shirtless heartthrobs and little else). Channing Tatum is another delight, playing Alan as a daffy, ill-equipped damsel in distress with a good heart. Tatum continues to dare audiences to underestimate him as a himbo, but Tatum is such a natural charmer with self-deprecating comedic instincts and having the flattering physique to bare it all for a leech gag. As Alan, Tatum is a little less dopey when not being fully committed to the bit of hair-waving Dash to the point that Alan actually uses “irony” correctly. 

Supporting players offer a lot of promise, but most of them just remain one-joke ideas. Daniel Radcliffe seems to look liberated playing against type again as the villainous Abigail Fairfax, but without being humorous enough, over-the-top enough, more of a wild card, or even threatening, it feels like a waste of the committed actor in a forgettable role. Brad Pitt swoops in for a glorified cameo as Jack Trainer, game as ever to perform his combat prowess (cued to Nick Cave and the Bad Seed’s “Red Right Hand” of all things) and still subvert our expectations of a rescue hero who's extremely handsome because his “father was a weatherman.” As Loretta’s brassy publicist Beth, Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the kind of comic talent who deserves her own movie, and one wouldn’t have minded more time with her Nana (Joan Pringle) and the vapid, Shawn Mendes-loving social-media manager she hired (played by a reliably acerbic Patti Harrison). Instead, Beth’s own rescue mission isn’t as funny as it should be, despite a run-in with a zany pilot (Oscar Nuñez) whose best friend is his pet goat. 

“The Lost City” plays the comedy surprisingly safe, as if it’s always just getting started. Luckily, for a high-concept studio comedy like this, the charisma and chemistry between movie stars can go a long way. Bullock and Tatum do make the best of punching up the script's generally rote comedic situations with a fun oil-and-water banter that evolves into decent romantic sparks (and it is refreshing to see an older woman getting a beefcake 16 years her junior). Every now and then, Bullock will also find inspiration in a throwaway line, like Loretta “peeling anchovies off her Caesar salad” when tasked with ripping leeches off Alan’s bare backside. Or, both Bullock and Tatum will find magic in what is presumably an ad-lib revolving around the deaths of two motorcycle-riding goons that Loretta and Alan have accidentally caused. One does wish it was a little less broad and a bit more adventurous, but “The Lost City” is fine as a diverting, more-goofy-than-dumb trifle, which might be enough for an escape at the movies.

Grade: C +

Paramount Pictures is releasing “The Lost City” (112 min.) in theaters on March 25, 2022.