The Lost City review – ropey, tropey rom-com has too much self-awareness

As much as any actors of their generation, Sandra Bullock and Owen Wilson contributed to the proliferation of broadly-drawn, politically correct and occasionally lucrative studio comedies during the late 90s and early 2000s. It’s apt, then, that as Hollywood appears to be handing the genre a tentative comeback in an attempt to get bums back on seat, it's Bullock and Wilson who stand on the frontier.

If Wilson and Jennifer Lopez's charming and competent Marry Me was a wistful glimpse at what we once took for granted, The Lost City is more of a cautionary tale. Bullock stars as Loretta Sage, a reluctant yet wildly successful author of pulpy romance novels populated by words like “throb” and “pulsate.” With the help of gorgeous “Dash McMahon” cover model Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum, duh), her adventure novels have become an unwieldy sensation. Just as Sage feels her patience for writing junk is beginning to wear thin, eccentric billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) forcibly whisks her away to help him find the “real” Lost City.

That’s a few tiers of self-awareness, and The Lost City really wants you to know how meta it is. Unfortunately the film confuses what is a respectable but inadequate ambition with real humour. It's a sad truth that the best jokes are all but used up in the trailer; all that’s left are some sincerely felt moments of heart, a half-baked drama, and an extended cameo from Brad Pitt – hardly enough to reignite the fires of the studio comedy.

Where it does better is in its casting. Willing to take a handful more risks than, say, the textbook Jumanji sequels, The Lost City opts for Daniel Radcliffe as its impish John Hammond figure. As an actor who almost everyone likes and respects, Radcliffe is still looking for a cinematic identity post-Potter, if such a thing is possible. Maybe comedy is where he can find it. A perennial good sport, he wears villain-coded blazer-polo combo and dispatches lines to his henchman – “It’s not creepy, is it? Guys, I told you not to make it creepy” – with aplomb. The Lost City gets this characterisation spot on: super-villains have to be self-reflexive now, or they just seem out of touch.

Bullock and Tatum are less edgy choices, though they are resoundingly reliable. Tatum has become one of Hollywood’s most skilled actors in laughing at himself. A true himbo, his looks are part of the absurdity. Bullock’s brand has been longer in the making: adept at playing girlbosses long before the term even existed, her Sage is a disarmingly befuddled character with plenty to discover. Their scenes together, particularly romantic ones, have just enough chemistry to sell the movie's central partnership.

All this makes The Lost City sound like a better movie than it is, but that's because it simply isn’t as good as its premise (or even, frankly, its trailer). Insultingly undercooked themes of colonisation are sprinkled without anything close to the nuance they deserve. And the film’s climax, which genuinely appears unfinished, is an underwhelming chaser to what is, in moments, a mildly enjoyable ride. In the end, finding real quality here ultimately proves as elusive as the Lost City itself.

The Lost City is in UK cinemas from 13 April.