Guy Ritchie can do no wrong.
“Fountain of Youth,” an Apple TV original that hit small screens last May, is a fun adventure tale a la the “National Treasure” series starring Nicolas Cage in the early 2000s.
Natalie Portman (“Black Swan,” “Jackie”) and John Krasinski (“A Quiet Place,” “The Office” on TV) co-star as a brother-sister duo at odds. Charlotte (Portman) thinks her brother Luke (Krasinski), an archaeologist, never set down any roots and has his head in the clouds. Luke has a notion about how to find the mysterious fountain of youth. This is a new twist on an old story. However, it’s a witty action adventure that you don’t have to take too seriously. It’s just a fun ride. Audiences are likely to care for the main characters, but they might not get pulled all the way in as in the “Indiana Jones” series where you are captivated enough to empathize with the characters. Everyone in “Fountain of Youth” is likable.
I didn’t know this movie even existed until a couple of weeks ago. Ritchie goes a long way to make this adventure worthwhile. I enjoyed some of his recent work, especially “The Gentlemen” in 2019 and “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” in 2024.
Ritchie has a knack for directing distinct use of vernacular, which makes his characters come alive in a unique manner. It’s much like Quentin Tarantino, who has gift for the way his characters speak their dialogue. Stanley Tucci, who portrays The Elder, only has a small role. Yet he brings a lightness to his character because he doesn’t take things too seriously.
The “Fountain of Youth” plot uses situations as gateways to move the story along. My mom said the movie seemed a little too long. But at about two hours it didn’t feel too long to me.
Grade: C+
