Bullock, Tatum, Pitt: It's Forgettable Fun

Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt join up for The Lost City, a rework of the 1984 adventure Romancing the Stone, in theaters Friday. From directors Aaron and Adam Nee, the film follows a novelist (Bullock) kidnapped by a billionaire (Radcliffe) who thinks she can lead him to an ancient treasure described in her latest book. Anxious to prove he's not just a pretty face, the model who appears on most of her book covers (Tatum) sets off with an ex-Navy SEAL (Pitt) to rescue her. According to critics, who give the film a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it's predictable, forgettable, but also fun.

• Or at least "kind of fun," with "a refreshing sweetness of spirit," as Justin Chang writes at the Los Angeles Times. He notes "the pairing of Bullock and Tatum … is as delightful as you'd expect from two actors of such goofy charm and combustible energy." They're an "effortlessly watchable duo" no matter what they're doing. Radcliffe is "very good," and Da'Vine Joy Randolph is "terrific" as Loretta's agent, Chang adds.
• The movie seeks to resurrect "the big-budget action-adventure movie-star rom-com" but presents "an empty tomb," writes David Fear at Rolling Stone, who describes the film as "two hours of sheer mediocrity." "It wants to be a modern Romancing the Stone so badly you can almost see the flop-sweat dripping down the screen." He was surprised even by the theatrical release, noting the film is "specifically designed to be watched in a state of distraction and/or defenseless against its aggressive attempts to charm."

• "Much frivolity ensues, double entendres fly and the energy between Bullock and Tatum crackles—at first. But after a while, Lost City loses its saucy edge, side subplots slow the momentum, Pitt is essentially the film's best special effect, and both the adventure and romantic angles get mired in predictability," writes Brian Truitt at USA Today, who gives the film 2.5 stars out of 4. In the end, viewers are "left wanting in general."
• For Cary Darling, the stars make it all worthwhile. It's Bullock and Tatum's "infectious chemistry that helps paper over the movie's predictability," he writes at the Houston Chronicle. "Viewers may know where The Lost City is going at every turn but half the fun is getting there." The script keeps the action moving and "Tatum really owns the role of the reluctant action hero," Darling writes.

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