*Get the film on Amazon here*
Romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) gets kidnapped by billionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) and is taken to an island where her archaeological skills are needed to find a treasure hidden in a lost tomb. Sage's cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), mercenary Jack (Brad Pitt), and Sage's publisher Beth (a hysterical Da'Vine Joy Randolph) try to come to Loretta's aid.
This riff on "Romancing the Stone" and a few other Hollywood projects about writers shouldn't work this well. The screenplay credit is messy, but Bullock uses her impeccable comic timing to deliver. Tatum brings more to the "dumb guy" role than was required, Pitt should have had more fun with his pretty boy/mercenary role, and Radcliffe doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Harrison, as Sage's social media ambassador, steals her scenes from the name performers. Randolph is good, but like Pitt, I wanted more from her character. The Nee brothers' direction is heavy on technology. The color correction and lighting are harsh, and some of the special effects aren't convincing. The pacing has more fits and starts than my first used car, so when a running gag or set-piece lands, it's more successful than it should have been. Alan has a great scene with Loretta after she refers to her romance fiction as shlock, and he sets her straight about disrespecting the audience who loves her stories. I wish a few hundred Hollywood types, some of whom are in this film, would watch that scene, and then watch the scene again.
Stats:
(2022) 112 min. (* * * 1/2) out of five stars
-Directed by Aaron Nee, Adam Nee
-Screenplay by Oren Uziel and Dana Fox and Adam Nee & Aaron Nee, Story by Seth Gordon
-Cast: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nunez, Patti Harrison, Bowen Yang, Stephen Lang, Joan Pringle, Hector Anibal, Thomas Forbes-Johnson, Sli Lewis
-PG-13- Contains physical violence, gun violence, gore, profanity, nudity, some sexual references, adult situations, alcohol and tobacco use.
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