All of my regular readers know I love a good romance. This is true with all kinds of romances- comedies, adventure, tragedy etc. Unfortunately for me and other fans of the genre Hollywood hasn’t given us much to enjoy in the last few decades. This is what has led romance fans like myself to turn to Hallmark and Netflix to get our romance fix. The adventure romance is a particularly fun genre that plays on tropes of rescue, opposites attract and escapism. My friend Alysa Lucas and I just did a whole episode of Hallmarkies Podcast talking about 4 fun adventure romances:

It was with all this in mind I was extremely excited for the new film The Lost City starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. I’ve been on a bit of a rough streak lately so I was ready for a movie I loved and as I’m a huge fan of this genre it seemed aimed to please.

And it did…

I don’t know how others will feel but this film did everything I needed it to do. It lets its 2 stars shine with terrific chemistry, the adventure sizzles and most importantly it’s laugh out loud funny. I particularly liked the way it pokes fun at erotica and romance novels without demonizing them or the joy they give many women.

And it’s not just Tatum and Bullock that shine in the film. Brad Pitt is extremely funny in an extended cameo (more Pitt in the inevitable sequel please!). I also enjoyed Daniel Radcliffe as the antagonist Abigail Fairfax (yes the name is a funny joke). Oscar Nuñez pops in for a few funny scenes. Patti Harrison (who I loved in Together Together last  year) gets a few laughs and Da’Vine Joy Randolph does a good job as Bullocks exasperated publicist (although they probably do spend too much time on her subplot).

There is a long scene where we get to see Tatum’s tooshie, which I thought was hilarious, but more traditional romance viewers might take issue with. It’s also very silly and over-the-top so anyone expecting a realistic jungle story might be disappointed (but then why are you watching this movie?).

As I said, some of the subplots go on a bit too long but I didn’t care because I was laughing. It also wasn’t as much of a Romancing the Stone rip-off as I thought it would be. Pitt’s character is a riff on the Jack T Colton character from that film but Bullock’s character is more confident than Joan Wilder played by Kathleen Turner. Yes both films are about neurotic romance writers but they are executed quite differently. Plus, Tatum’s character Alan is actually quite shy and awkward, which I wasn’t expecting.

If you are like me and love adventure romances you will love The Lost City. It’s a great time at the movies I’ve missed! I’m also so glad to see Bullock back in rom-coms. She’s so good at them and it’s been a long time (since The Proposal in 2009!).

8 out of 10

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