The Lost City of Z

• Written and Directed by James Gray
• October 15, 2016 (NYFF) / April 14, 2017 (US)
• Based on the 2009 book The Lost City of Z by David Grann

The story of British explorer Percy Fawcett who went to Brazil and made several attempts to find a rumored lost city in the Amazon.

In the fact-based drama The Lost City of Z our main character of Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) is desperate for advancement in the British army and despite a stellar record on his part, it appears advancement is largely held back because of his ancestry and little more. Apparently pops was quite the turd and that stank has attached itself to Percy even though Percy has none of his father’s negative traits.

Let’s start with the lead. Hunnam was not a good choice for Fawcett (no relation to Farrah). He comes on with too much attitude for a man who is trying to be part of acceptable society or even an army officer. Originally I believe Bindlespink Cinnabon was to play the part of Fawcett but he generally gives too little attitude in his work though Bandersnatch Cummerbund would be more convincing as an individual navigating the higher echelons of society.

Tom Holland for some of the movie plays his son Jack. I say ‘some’ because the movie covers a huge amount of time and at least two other actors take on the part. There are multiple missions to the Amazon. The amount of time that gets covered makes the narrative flow alternate between slow and rapid. His youngest son starts out as a small child and ends the story in 2.5 hours as Tom Holland.

That amount of time is another issue. The Lost City of Z is something that could either benefit from being a miniseries to appropriately cover the story or focusing its narrative on what’s the very end in this film with bits of dialogue used to fill in any gaps. I think writer and director James Gray could’ve told the same or very similar story by focusing on the final trip. Some dialogue and a few brief flashbacks could’ve set things up nicely while creating a more focused storyline that hit any points he wanted.

There is just too much packed into too little. This is a story that should be really engaging from the start but suffers by not knowing what to cut. The main point is about one person chasing a dream in an effort to prove themselves to the world and that they are not their father. Percy Fawcett’s dad casts a big shadow, but it is not a good one.

Things come and go with a great deal of speed. Not much gets focused on and allowed to marinate in the mind of the viewer. Aside from Fawcett’s motivation there’s not much else put forth to get you to really understand the characters. I’m not entirely even sure why Jack (Tom Holland) followed along with the final mission other than adherence to history.

Characters like Percy’s wife Nina (Sienna Miller) who could have made a statement on feminism since she does not conform to society or those like Sir George Goldie (Ian “Emperor Palpatine” McDiarmid) and James Murray (Angus Macfadyen) who could have represented both sides of the struggle get not nearly enough time to be developed. Amongst the elements of trying to prove yourself there are elements of feminism and soft bigotry based on family relations. But they get barely touched on.

The performances are good. And it was nice to see Tom Holland in something that wasn’t in the MCU. He didn’t “Wow” me but he did okay and Robert Pattinson shows up as Fawcett compatriot Corporal Henry Costin. I was not impressed by The Batman but what Pattinson does here is great and far more interesting than anything done by Hunnam. Now that I think about it, Pattinson as Fawcett may have been a better choice. Anywho…

They do a great job of making the Amazon of the time seem dark and dangerous. It was certainly not a welcoming world to outsiders then and not really now either. Each trip is dark and creepy, and you feel the danger. But that finale to the arc of Jack (did he even rally have an arc?) and Percy was just…weird. It is a complete work of fiction and is dreamlike. Is it meant to be a fantasy on Nina’s part as she appears in a scene afterwards or just meant as something artsy farsty?

Ultimately The Lost City of Z is a somewhat of a missed opportunity. There are some good moments, but not nearly enough to make this film a must see. It only ever rises to okay mostly because it tries to pack too much into too little and fails it all.