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The Movie: Directed by and starring Andy Garcia, "The Lost City" is an almost epic period drama that takes place in 1958 Havana, during the Batista dictatorship. While it's obvious that Garcia (who was born in Havana in '56) has put his heart into this production (reportedly, Garcia has been working on getting it made for more than a decade), it's still a little problematic at times. Garcia stars as Fico Fellove, one of three brothers - the other two being Luis (Nestor Carbonell) and Ricardo (Enrique Murciano)- and a nightclub owner who has found success. However, it's not long before the revolution takes over the city, with Fico watching as Castro's army takes power. While Fico has tried to remain neutral, his brothers get drawn into the politics of the time in different ways, with tragic results. Fico eventually finds himself falling for his widowed sister-in-law Aurora (Ines Sastre) and that his nightclub has a new set of problems and rules to contend with. Hanging around on the sidelines is an American writer (Bill Murray), who only offers an assortment of one-liners commenting on the moment. While Murray is always fun to watch, the character doesn't fit with the tone of the movie and is never really explained, seeming like a rather pointless addition that could have been dropped. The movie's visuals and music (while I did like the music, Garcia could have trimmed some of the performances to try and give the movie some momentum) give a lot of flavor to the movie, but they're not aided much by performances that lack the same sort of passion and dialogue that's often clunky (while watching the film, I pondered whether Garcia would have been better off making a documentary about the time period instead of making a feature film out of this material.) Andy Garcia has been a master of the slow boil, but his performance here seemed too subtle for its own good. Additionally, the romance with Sastre lacked chemistry and never really adds much at all to the picture. The romantic angle should have been one of the elements dropped to give the film more focus add help pacing, which is noticably slow at times. Again, "The Lost City" is obviously a project that means a lot to Garcia, but the material could have certainly used a few rewrites to try and give the movie some focus, develop the characters (who really aren't developed that much, despite the lengthy running time) and give a wider view of the history of Havana of the time. The DVD VIDEO: "The Lost City" is presented by Magnolia in 1.78;1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is generally first-rate, with excellent sharpness and detail throughout the majority of the movie. Some slight shimmering and a moment or two of artifacting were spotted, but no edge enhancement was seen. Colors appeared bright and warm, with nice saturation and no smearing. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack comes to life during some of the more intense sequences and also provides reinforcement of the music. Audio quality was perfectly fine, with nice bass and crisp dialogue/effects. EXTRAS: Commentary from Garcia, actor Nestor Carbonell and production designer Waldemar Kalinowski. There's also a making of documentary, deleted scenes w/commentary, production notes and photo gallery. Final Thoughts: "The Lost City" lacks focus and offers average performances, which results in a movie that feels draggy at times. The DVD offers excellent video quality, fine audio and a few solid supplements. A rental for those interested. 
Film Grade The Film C DVD Grades Video 89/B+ Audio: 88/B- Extras: 80/B- |