The Lost City (2005)

25% of critics liked it
(84 reviews)
50% of users liked it
(25,593 ratings)

Veteran actor Andy Garcia steps into the director's chair for his first voyage into feature filmmaking with this heartfelt tribute to revolutionary, late-'50s-era Cuba featuring Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Tomas Milian, and offering the director himself in the starring role. Fico Fellove (Garcia)… More Veteran actor Andy Garcia steps into the director's chair for his first voyage into feature filmmaking with this heartfelt tribute to revolutionary, late-'50s-era Cuba featuring Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Tomas Milian, and offering the director himself in the starring role. Fico Fellove (Garcia) is the politically neutral owner of the El Tropico nightclub who seeks shelter from the winds of change behind the crowded bar of his flourishing business. Unfortunately for Fico, the blood of the revolution flows deep within the veins of his passionate brothers, and it's only a matter of time before both the club owner, and his distinguished father, are forced to face the prospect of having their lives forever changed despite their indifference to the violence that surrounds them. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 23 min.
Directed By: Andy Garcia
Written By: G. Cabrera Infante
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Sep 3, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Aug 8, 2006
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Critic Reviews

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
When it succeeds, the film conveys a bittersweet longing for a lost moment and the unfulfilled promise of a democratic Cuba.
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
It's handsome and heartfelt but mired in murky politics, plot inertia, musical montages and painfully pointed symbolism.
David Germain, Associated Press
Garcia needed better guiding hands and eyes in the editing room to jettison the many parts that bog down the story.
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
Unsteady but often entrancing.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Somehow simultaneously too much and not enough. At 143 minutes, it well overstays its welcome as a movie, but with a little more fleshing out it might have worked as a miniseries.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Turgid, lumpy and almost unwatchably dull.
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
By the half way point I was beginning to take back everything I said re Steven Soderbergh's dull-as-ditchwater Che: Part II - even he manages to drum up more tension than this.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Unfolds like a series of as outtakes from Hollywood productions
Tom Huddlestone, Time Out
'The Lost City' is intriguing as a historical document and adequate as cinema, but it has a blandness at its core that no amount of spicy mambo and booty-quaking dance routines can disguise.
Stella Papamichael, Film4
There may be a good film here, but it struggles to break free of the cumbersome framework.
James Christopher, Times [UK]
Andy Garcia's preposterous vanity project The Lost City is an all-singing, all-dancing version of the Cuban Revolution.
Cath Clarke, Guardian [UK]
The script is scrupulously even-handed, but Garcia can't seem to get a grip on this sprawl.
David Gritten, Daily Telegraph
Great music and costumes, but with a woeful plot and jaw-droppingly stilted dialogue. Cuban-born Garcia's main complaint against Fidel seems to be that rich, corrupt Cubans could no longer dance the night away.
Rob Daniel, Sky Movies
Not an embarrassment, but definitely a missed opportunity.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Andy Garcia's directorial debut is a flawed and overlong but nonetheless watchable drama with strong performances, a superb soundtrack and bizarre appearances from Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray.
Christopher Campbell, Cinematical
Garcia obviously has more ambition than skill.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
Garcia is just too earnest to make his dream project anything but deadly dull.
Scott Weinberg, DVD Clinic
It's by no means a flawless film, but it's a meaty one, and if you're a big fan of Andy Garcia, I'd definitely recommend it. (Plus, Bill Murray's in there.)
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
So dull and plodding in so many places that you come away from it thinking that what was most lost was an opportunity to more passionately document this fascinating time and place.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...plays like a confusing and inferior Caribbean analog to The Godfather, without anything like the narrative drive of Coppola's film.

Read all 22 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stefanie C

despite the beautiful music and cinematography, there was little substance to this film. i was hoping for a film that would provide more history of the cuban crisis; this film's treatment was facile. slow paced, boring, and overall disappointing film.
danny d

really great film for a directorial debut by andy garcia. he also does a great job acting in this one. bill murray plays a small role but steals the movie in all of his scenes. his character is even pointless, but he makes the film more entertaining. good flick that i recommend… More
really great film for a directorial debut by andy garcia. he also does a great job acting in this one. bill murray plays a small role but steals the movie in all of his scenes. his character is even pointless, but he makes the film more entertaining. good flick that i recommend about the rise of fidel castro in cuba. the cast was great and the story flowed well.
Bruce B

This is a good movie, with actor and director (Andy Garcia), Shows the Cuba way of life coming up. Kind of like the Soprano's in the begining. Glad I rented, but doubt that I would add it to my DVD Collection, sorry a nonbuy. Great dancing and music all throughout.
FanGirl B

Good music and nice cinematography.