Channing Tatum as Emblematic of a Certain Kind of Self-Aware Thing

by Ted Kluck

Note: This originally ran in the Journal of the Union Faculty Forum.

At some point I leaned over to my wife in the darkened Empire 8 theater and whispered, “This feels like a Netflix Original that somehow got theatrical.”  That’s my assessment of “The Lost City,” which stars Channing Tatum, Sandra Bullock’s lip enhancement, the guy from “Harry Potter,” and Brad Pitt for ten minutes. 

It even had the somewhat indescribable but know-it-when-you-see-it high-gloss visual look of a Netflix Original, which somehow looks like 8% different than a normal movie.  It had a Netflix Original level of product placement, which is to say it sometimes felt like a 90-minute ad for GMC, Dodge, Johnnie Walker, and Fiji Water. 

All of this being said, it wasn’t unpleasant.  But it was so self-aware, and such a commentary on itself, that it was more like watching a documentary about fun dumb movies, than watching the fun dumb movie itself.  Let me (try to) explain:

Tatum’s character existed as a sort of commentary on Hot Dumb Guys who you need to get to know because they (maybe) have more going on than you think.  Tatum is (zero snark here) really good at playing this type of guy. He was really good in this. 

Brad Pitt’s character existed as a caricature of Brad Pitt himself.  It was like Brad Pitt doing Brad Pitt karaoke onscreen for ten minutes.  His presence in the project sort of gave the audience permission to like the rest of it.  I needed this permission from Brad, and was (again, no snark) grateful for it. 

The whole thing was kinda supposed to be a commentary on romance novels, but ended up being more of a commentary on movies that are supposed to be commentaries of romance novels.  In its raging self-awareness, it was like being at a party with a guy who is so busy getting off jokes, that you can’t tell if he’s being serious when he says he likes your shirt.  It’s a little disconcerting.  He wants you to go home thinking he’s super funny, but you really just go home wondering about your shirt. 

This movie was the same.  Was I supposed to like it?  Was I supposed to acknowledge that it was acknowledging that it was dumb?  Was I supposed to like it because it presupposed that I was smart?  I’m confused.  Maybe I’m not that smart. 

I liked it.

But it made me wonder if we’ll ever see another super-earnest action-romance ever again?  The kind of action-romance that is so center-cut in its salesmanship, that you feel like you’re watching an action-romance and not a wink-wink-nudge-nudge version of one.