SEATTLE — If you had to compare “The Lost City” to another film, there are undeniable similarities to 1984's “Romancing The Stone.”
But the new comedy, starring and produced by Sandra Bullock, stands on its own as a funny, breezy, smart, and action-packed popcorn movie that will remind audiences why it’s so fun to go to the movies.
Bullock plays a romance novelist with a background in archaeology, kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) to translate ancient symbols and lead him to buried treasure. Her book cover model (Channing Tatum) follows, in an ill-conceived rescue mission attempt.
Shot in the Dominican Republic, the movie features spectacular scenery and a jungle full of impediments for Bullock — who spends most of the film in a sequined jumpsuit and high heels.
Memorable scenes include a massive charcuterie display being destroyed by an airplane’s jets, and Tatum’s character finding himself covered in leeches. Brad Pitt also makes an impressive cameo.
Entertainment reporter Kim Holcomb talked to Bullock, Radcliffe, and supporting cast members Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nunez, and Patti Harrison.
HOLCOMB: "I feel like given what you wore in this movie, you have earned the right to wear sweats for the rest of your life, for all interviews.”
BULLOCK: “Thank you, thank you."
RADCLIFFE: "I did that for a year and a half on Zoom, I was bottom half sweats, top half smart, so it's nice to feel like I'm actually presentable.”
BULLOCK: (looking him up and down) “Well... I mean... yeah.”
HOLCOMB: “This movie was pure delight from start to finish, but there was one scene that did hurt my heart. The cheese scene. So much cheese lost."
BULLOCK: "It was a painful day on a budget level, it was a painful day on a cheese lover level. Because we had them all represented, with the little piles of almonds and walnuts and cranberries and apricots, it was a charcuterie that we all live for. And it all was wasted."
HOLCOMB: "You're telling me this was not prop cheese, that was actual brie that went on the floor?”
BULLOCK: "And it turns out that brie doesn't really fly as well as we'd like it to.”
RADCLIFFE: “It’s not aerodynamic.”
BULLOCK: “Cheese is dense, so it didn't have the trajectory we thought it would the minute the fans hit, so...”
RADCLIFFE: “It really had to be flung."
HOLCOMB: “You have made a very important scientific discovery in the making of this film, so thank you for that."
BULLOCK: "It's what we're here for.”
RADCLIFFE: “Brie cannot be blown, it must be flung. (laughter)”
HOLCOMB: "Watching the outtakes is just as fun as watching this movie. Who was most likely to break during a take?”
BULLOCK: “Me.”
RADCLIFFE: "I was too terrified to break."
BULLOCK: "He also had a mouthful of serious dialogue that he had to remember in a rhythm that was virtually impossible."
RADCLIFFE: "Anytime you did break, and it was something I had anything to do with, it was very satisfying. There's something about making an actor laugh on camera — you know, you're not supposed to do it but it's great — when you do get one, it's a good moment."
HOLCOMB: "How much were you guys able to riff?"
RANDOLPH: "90/10.”
NUNEZ: “I did a little but it didn't get on."
HARRISON: "You adlibbing was just so bad, and you were also trying to plug your website and your daughter's yarn bag company in the movie?”
NUNEZ: “Was it that noticeable?”
HARRISON: “It was really unprofessional.”
NUNEZ: “Was it that noticeable?”
RANDOLPH: “It was like this, what you're seeing now. (laughter)”
HOLCOMB: "What is your romance novel? Do you have a show or music or something that you just go to because you know it makes you feel good?”
RADCLIFFE: “'It makes you feel good' has just complicated it a little bit, I was about to say reality TV, but it is conflicting. ‘The Bachelor’ is fun but it's also sad sometimes. That comes under the guilty pleasure thing for me because I started off trying to enjoy it ironically and now I just have to admit that I'm fully invested. (laughter)"
BULLOCK: "Any dance movie for me, any dance movie. I don't care how old, how much of a throwback, any dance movie to me is just everything. Everything."
HOLCOMB: "I think that's perfect that you bring that up because of course there is the old — was it Ginger Rogers who said that she had to do everything Fred Astaire did backwards and in heels? You did everything backward, in heels, in the sand, in the water, in a sequined jumpsuit, strapped to a chair in a wheelbarrow. Daniel, do you just genuflect to someone doing that?"
RADCLIFFE: "Yeah, kind of. Yes. She's amazing. Like, it's very cool to be working with her — someone who you know is an amazing physical comedian and you know is an amazing actor, but then to see it all actually being done, and see her being the person she is at the same time — yeah, it was very cool. You genuflect.”
BULLOCK: “Ohh, that was sweet!”
“The Lost City” is rated PG-13 and is available on Blu-ray and digital now.
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