The erotic romance novel, while still around, is definitely more nuanced now. When we think of the stereotype of these novels, there's a man in a white shirt, unbuttoned, with long blond hair - you can picture it. These fill up K-Mart book sections still, but the genre of course changed when 'Fifty Shades of Grey' was published, both giving new life to the genre and also tapering it. While erotic romance novels still exist, their plots are often embedded in fancy novels that make readers work for those spicy chapters.
In 'The Lost City', Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock, 'Ocean's 8', 'Gravity') is about to finish her newest novel in the Dash McMahon series, 'The Lost City of D'. She has struggled since the death of her adventurous husband, but her publicist Beth (Vine Joy Randolph, 'Trolls World Tour', 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday') insists she go on a book tour to get back out there and see that the fans really love her work... even if Loretta thinks it's just smut. To draw attention to the tour, they team her up with her cover model for Dash, Alan ('Dog', Channing Tatum, 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'), but the two clash as many readers thinking Alan is actually Dash. However, the new book has caught the eye of Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe, 'Harry Potter' franchise, 'Swiss Army Man'), a billionaire who kidnaps Loretta, as her book tells the story of The Lost City so she must find it. With Loretta missing, it's up Alan to unlock his inner Dash and become a real-life hero.
SWITCH: 'THE LOST CITY' TRAILER
'The Lost City' is a serviceable comedy, Bullock and Tatum are having a great time and have decent chemistry, but the laughs are belly chuckles at best. There are no real standout comedy moments. The film also rarely plays into "the author living out one of her novels" premise and it could have benefited by playing those moments up. For me, the real scene-stealer was Radcliffe; he is eating it up as a villain, and you can feel the glee radiating off the screen. Brad Pitt, while a small role, is also enjoying himself - you can tell he's just here for a fun time, and really adds great energy to the film.
'The Lost City' is a serviceable comedy, Bullock and Tatum are having a great time and have decent chemistry, but the laughs are belly chuckles at best. There are no real standout comedy moments.
The adventure has a fun mystery in it, but the film never balances the two genres well. Every other jungle adventure film we have seen before this film does the same tropes we see here.
'The Lost City' is a perfectly fine movie to watch on a night out with friends or while on a date, but it doesn't fully reach its grand adventure comedy promise. It serves as an adequate cinematic experience and nothing more.