I knew this film was coming but I avoided trailers… I knew it starred Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum but was very pleasantly surprised by the villain and the alternate hero. On the off chance those could be spoilers, I’ll just say they are actually almost worth the price of admission alone. But the real ticket sellers are definitely Bullock and Tatum’s wonderfully fun banter and charm.
The flick stars Bullock as a romance novelist and Tatum as the cover model of her bodice rippers. She gets kidnapped by a bored billionaire who needs her to translate the writing of a lost civilization. Channing Tatum – who has no useful skills in such a situation – follows along to rescue her.
If any of this makes you think of Romancing the Stone, I think the people who made this flick would thank you. It’s like if Michael Douglas’ character was a big old lumbering himbo and that’s a fun twist. Also some resemblance to Disney’s recent Jungle Cruise… this is a much better movie (and I low-key liked Jungle Cruise).
This is such a good-natured fun little lark of a movie that had me laughing and grinning a lot more than expected. It’s one of those films where there’s a damn good chance the actors are ad-libbing much of of their dialog and, dammit, Sandy and Channing make it work. Not everything is a home run, but there’s a shaggy goofiness to what they do that really works.
Whether it works as well as an actual romantic adventure, well… maybe less so. Surely the ladies (and others) will admire Channing Tatum (especially once the leaches appear) on a pure aesthetic level. And Bullock has charm to spare so they largely work together. The storyline and jungle adventure are fine but they aren’t the star of the show.
I wish I could score it a little higher but there are stretches where the witty banter, the jokes, and even the adventure slow down a little too much. It gets a little uneven in the second act and drags the movie down a little. Still though there’s enough fun here to shrug it aside and still give it a lovely little score for a lovely little movie.
Definitely check out this fun goofy lark, especially if you are a member of the Sandra Bullock and/or Channing Tatum fan club. They are working at the top of their game in this fun if slightly frivolous little adventure comedy.
Score: 84