Alicia
I love this movie so much
Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
The Grand Master
The Lost City looked like it would be a decent movie however I found to be overlong, boring, and worthy of putting you to sleep.Andy Garcia is a likable actor, however he alone can not even redeem this movie. Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray and Steven Bauer are not much help either.I can't even describe the story either, I just found myself at a loss for words at what the movie is about. Upon reading the synopsis I found myself saying, "Oh, so that's what it's all about".Sorry, but I just could not find this movie to be engaging at all. I found myself lost in this boring drama.A total waste of time and effort.1/10.
SimonJack
An interesting film by Andy Garcia that looks back on the Havana that was. Garcia was only five years old when his family fled Cuba in 1961 after the 1959 revolution and Fidel Castro's takeover. "The Lost City" is a nostalgic tribute to his homeland and especially Havana and its musical culture. In a bonus short with this film on DVD, Garcia explains that most people who have had to leave their homelands forcefully always have a longing, a connection with it. That applies to emigrants forced out and those who fled the persecution of oppressive governments. And, children of emigrants as well, he says. This film was some 16 years in the planning. Garcia assembled an excellent cast and craftsmen to produce the film, from the writing to the filming, locations and all aspects. He starred in it himself and also directed it. The shooting locations were in the Dominican Republic with its countryside, shoreline and buildings that are similar to those in Cuba. This is a very good story about family, culture, love, loss, tragedy and freedom. It also is a window on the very beautiful music and culture that was Cuban and Havanan in the past. At the time Garcie made this film, Havana was in a terrible sate of decay. Efforts since have been made to save the city, but much of it is falling into ruin. The film was made in English except for the songs. I don't speak Spanish, so I appreciated the English sub-titles for the music, since the lyrics of the songs are a great deal about the people and culture.
tomboneill34
The long pauses that professional reviewers remarked on negatively are major clues to the self indulgence of the author and of Andy Garcia. Gone with the Wind got away with something along these lines, but The Lost City doesn't. Scarlett O'Hara was treated with balance enough to keep her movie afloat. Garcia drowns his movie in bathos by being too uncritically admiring of Fico--whose only commitment seems to be to the privileged lifestyle he enjoyed in the early parts of the film. Some effort at making Fico an echo of Rick in Casablanca is attempted, but the film has none of the tautness of Casablanca. More important, where Rick was able to let go of Paris for the sake of some more generous commitment to the human future, Fico and Garcia seem unable to let go of anything. At the end Fico is babbling what sounds like a very poor parody of Kahlil Gibran at his most pretentious. By then, perhaps, he has been infected by the babbling of the no-name Bill Murray character who has been inscrutably and mysteriously babbling throughout most of the film.
rajaspencer
Certainly I understand the passion (and the political statement) of this movie. If you voted for McCain, thought Elian Gonzales should have stayed apart from his father, and have not been to Cuba in the last 30 years you will love the movie. If on the other hand you did not grow up in Miami, and use the internet to discover the true history you might not. If like me you take both the US (Republican) spin AND the Cuban Government spin then ignore those and look at the international perspective you discover the movie lacks balance.It is from the hard line approach of the Cuban expatriate community and no doubt they are thrilled and shed tears at its mention. But if we really look at the plausibility of the plot it borders on absurdity. Here is a very rich Cuban, from a very rich family fleeing his country penniless. Nah, the nature of Cuba in 1959 and 1960 1) provided ample opportunity to see the writing on the wall 2) Every rich Cuban I know had big money in the US. They did not arrive and work washing dishes. Furthermore, Cubans (unlike my forefathers) were given loans for housing, loans for education, and loans for businesses. A well connected Club owner with a tobacco background would certainly be well connected. Thus we see the political statement.I do like Mr. Garcia (how can you not?) I do understand how he feels and why this film was so important to him. I think some of the readers will understand the lack of balance if they either look at the spin less international mainstream view or visit Cuba when Obama lifts the travel ban. We are the only country in the world that views Cuba as part of the axis of evil (a terrorist sponsor)....Why is that?
