By George & Josh Bate
The trajectory of Guy Ritchie’s directorial continues to perplex. The English filmmaker burst on the scene with a flurry of vibrant, gritty, and witty London gangster films featuring a singularly unique style of directing, editing, and dialogue. Even efforts like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which diverged from the gritty worlds Ritchie had become known for, still retained the director’s signature filmmaking style. In 2019, however, this began to change as Ritchie directed the live-action remake of Aladdin, a film that, while effectively reimagining the Disney animated classic, lacked what made Ritchie such a standout director for decades prior. In the years since Aladdin, Ritchie has been one of the most prolific major directors working, helming a whopping seven films in six years. For the most part, these films, such as The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and The Gentleman, have proven compelling, even if some like The Covenant see Ritchie’s style fall by the wayside. His latest effort Fountain of Youth, premiering May 23 on Apple TV+, sees Ritchie stray further than ever from what made him such a captivating filmmaker in the first place, crafting a Indiana Jones-inspired heist film with none of the director’s hallmark vibrancy.
Fountain of Youth stars John Krasinski as Luke Purdue, a rogue and charismatic explorer and thief who embarks on a journey to find the Fountain of Youth. In order to do so, Luke teams up with his estranged sister Charlotte (played by Natalie Portman), who reluctantly joins Luke’s team of thieves amidst a messy divorce. While the team try to avoid law enforcement, they are also pursued by Esme (played by Eiza González), a mysterious operative determined to stop them from finding the Fountain of Youth.
Fountain of Youth does not shy away from its Indiana Jones influences. From a charismatic adventurer as the lead character to a mystical objective to pursue to solving all sorts of puzzles in a journey across the entire globe, Ritchie’s latest plays out like an Indy feature in every regard (the main character’s father’s name is even named Harrison, as a little nod to Indiana Jones himself Harrison Ford). Operating so similarly as an Indiana Jones film inevitably invites comparison and, likely to the surprise of few, Fountain of Youth falls desperately short.
Ritchie’s bloated 125 minute film is packed full of extensive and seemingly quite high-budget action set-pieces. An engaging motorcycle chase through Bangkok kicks off the film, while a car chase through London and an expedition to a crashed vessel underwater are just some of the sequences that follow. All of them are competently directed and possess an entertaining flavor of comedic chaos often found in Indiana Jones films but none leave much of a lasting impression, despite the massive amount of dollars clearly thrown at this project.
Proving more engaging, although not featuring heavily enough in the film, are the variety of puzzles Krasinski and Portman’s characters have to solve on their way to the Fountain of Youth. The movie grips far more when it hits pause on some of the action to focus on unraveling the mystery of the mythical spring they pursue. Unfortunately, these scenes are relatively few and far between and fail to live up to similar sequences in Indiana Jones films or Uncharted games.
The de facto Indy here is John Krasinski, who plays a decidedly less serious protagonist than he does in the Prime Video series Jack Ryan. From his time working on The Office, Krasinski has had an effortless charm to him, making him a perfect choice to lead this sort of film (at least on paper). However, the Krasinski we see in the film is a far cry from the one we’ve seen captivate in A Quiet Place, Jack Ryan, 13 Hours, and The Office, amongst other projects. In part due to ill-fitting dialogue, Krasinski’s roguish charisma and ‘witty’ comebacks come across as forced and unnatural. It is not an issue of effort on Krasinski’s part, but, rather, the result of an actor trying to force a character and a movie to be far more lively and clever than they are.
Similarly delivering a forced and ill-fitting performance is Natalie Portman as Krasinski’s character’s sister. Much of the film’s humor and energy hinges on the chemistry between Krasinski and Portman, which admittedly grows during the course of the film, but never quite feels organic. One of the industry’s greatest actresses, Portman surprises here in never seeming comfortable trading blows with Krasinski and cracking jokes, again likely in part a fault of the dialogue at her disposal. With the combined talent of Portman and Krasinski on screen, it’s hard not to have one’s mind speculate as to what could have been from a film starring these two.
Amidst all of this, Fountain of Youth also errs in failing to stand out as a Guy Ritchie film. If one were not to know beforehand that Ritchie directed this film or pay attention to the credits, there would be no way of identifying this as a Guy Ritchie directed movie. Of course, Ritchie should be commended for tackling different types of films outside of the London gangster pictures that he made a name with. However, the lack of style and vision here is startling and disappointing.
Despite the lack of style, Fountain of Youth is a serviceable streaming movie. The lavish settings and globe-trotting make for a fun, albeit conventional, adventure film that may be worth the watch for some looking for a bit of light entertainment. The plot never deevolves into convoluted territory, the tone always retains a sense of levity, and the action set-pieces and puzzle solving offer just enough to hold one’s attention (even if the third act stretches on far too long).
VERDICT: 5/10
Guy Ritchie strays further away from his trademark gritty and lively style of filmmaking with Fountain of Youth, a lavish yet mediocre Indiana Jones-inspired adventure film. Filling much of its 2+ hour runtime with elaborate (and likely very expensive) action set pieces, Ritchie’s latest fails to make the most of the seemingly monumental budget at hand, although greater success is found with various puzzle solving sequences reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies or Uncharted games. Due in part to ill-fitting dialogue, the typically charismatic John Krasinski produces a forced performance that never quite feels natural. The same can be said for Natalie Portman, who never seems comfortable trading blows with Krasinski or cracking jokes. Although Ritchie deserves commendation for tackling a different kind of film here, the distinct lack of style and class that typically comes with a Guy Ritchie film is sorely missed. That being said, Fountain of Youth makes for a fun, albeit conventional and rather superficial, streaming movie, one that benefits from never getting too complicated and always having some action or a puzzle to focus on. Those eager for an adventure film in the vein of Indiana Jones may find joy in watching Fountain of Youth. Although, rewatching an Indy flick will probably scratch that itch more effectively.