Best-selling romance author Loretta Sage has been somewhat of a recluse, and with an enormous amount of encouragement from her manager decides to publish a shiny new novel. Now she just has to do a book tour to promote it... with cover model Alan. After a few minor issues on stage Loretta steps outside to get some fresh air and makes sure to order herself a car so she can leave swiftly. Cue the unsuspecting Loretta becoming a victim of a kidnapping; but why you might ask? There's only one way to find out!
When I saw the trailer for this movie I knew I had to drag Andrew to come and see it with me. Sometimes with Rom-coms etc it can take a little bit of convincing, but he's a secret Channing Tatum fan and a very vocal Sandra Bullock fan; not too much work this time around! A quick summary of the story would be to say a very rich man was searching for a treasure that lay undiscovered on a remote island and believed with the help of Loretta; whose recently diseased husband was studying the very artefact he desired, he'd be able to translate the only clue he had in order to obtain the elusive Crown of Fire. Kidnapping Loretta wasn't a great move though, with cover model Alan desperately seeking the assistance of an old acquaintance to extract the author and bring her back safely. Well that all goes horribly wrong, and the jungle adventure begins here.
The story for this movie had some great points. I loved that Loretta took umbrage over Alan joining her on tour as it becomes less about selling her books, her fantastic stories, and more of a conversation about how sexy the picture on the publication is. From this point on we see Channing Tatum doing what he does best, and that's comedy. I'm a huge fan of his and often find I'm laughing at him without him needing to have even said anything. Such a cheeky chappy! We're blessed with the presence of Brad Pitt for a short period of the film, but again he does enough in that time to bowl us all over. The writing is certainly one of the high points in this movie, along with an amazing ensemble put together by the casting director. Sandra Bullock is one of the industries greatest actresses and is incredibly diverse with her roles. Again though I feel as if comedy suits her best. Her facial expressions are priceless. The journey we see the two main characters take is delightfully charming and also leads us through the narrative of her books to a degree too - a two-for-one of a story within a story! The plot is somewhat obvious but enjoyable all the same, I don't think it needed anything deep or any major twists. Just good fun really.
There are some great special effects throughout, with my favourite being the scene you can see above with Sandra Bullock being pushed to safety in a wheelbarrow whilst balancing precariously on a chair! There's a scene with Loretta attempting to write a chapter in her novel which I thought was well put together too, but I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say more than that. Might have let out a belly laugh then too... let's talk about the costumes though. I loved Alan with his character costume - the reaction from the audience on the tour is definitely how I see comic con fans when the guests come along dressed as their most notable role. There was a time when the questions at the guest talks would be on par with those asked in this specific scene which I found hilarious. I couldn't talk about costumes without a little mention to the vision in pink. If there were to be a red carpet premier or an awards ceremony, I expect that the costume selection goes precisely this way. Let's pick something super garish and embarrass the person who has to wear it? Daniel Radcliffe looks pretty slick in his outfit of choice, and I think he should dress this way on a day to day basis. Also just throwing it out there: having a British villain in a movie rarely disappoints me. Thankfully this one didn't either, I think he was just the right amount of entitled little turd and pompous billionaire.
I love physical comedy as much as funny characters, and you might have spotted a scene in the trailer with leeches, so let me just say I chortled when we got to it. Stupid stuff is and always will be something that adds to a movie. Not necessarily good value depending on the film but it's just an extra layer I look forward to.
Super fun watch, worth it for the leech scene if nothing else, go and see it!
Review by CB
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