Within the course of one night, Woody Harrelson finds himself in a misadventure in London that winds him up in jail.
Woody Harrelson’s passion project, the brisk comedy “Lost in London,” is quite the technical feat. It was designed as a live event, to be played in select theaters, while it was being filmed in real-time. Every aspect of the shoot had to be precisely coordinated. The logistics behind such a feat must have been remarkably difficult to pull off, some of the complexities displayed in the lengthy introduction, in which the likes of Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Ted Danson, Jennifer Lawrence, and Emma Stone warn Woody against embarking on this perilous journey. The resulting cinematic experiment may evaporate from your mind hours after it’s over, but it also transcends gimmickry and functions as a self-sufficient, sporadically side-splitting story, partially based on a real thing that happened to Woody. From a purely technical perspective, it’s rather incredible.
Woody plays a version of himself, a has-been actor living off royalties and small off-Broadway performances. After one such play in London, he discovers a fresh tabloid — “Woody’s wild sex orgy” — the front cover portraying him with several prostitutes. Woody’s attempts to hide it from his wife prove unsuccessful, leading to a wild night out. In order not to spoil the fun, I’ll just mention that Woody goes clubbing with a prince, gets into a fight with his “second best friend” Owen Wilson, shares a jail cell with Willie Nelson (“the Texan Dalai Lama”) and resolves everything a little too neatly at the end.
Major kudos go to cinematographer Nigel Willoughby, who captures some stunning shots of night-time London, in addition to keeping up with and masterfully framing his star. If it were not for Woody’s charisma, the whole thing would’ve fallen apart. This film needed an actor charming enough for us to root for him despite the egregious decisions he makes, an actor whose familiarity resonates from decades of classics. His comedic timing, his rapport with fellow actors, the few moments of introspective contemplation all anchor the somewhat meandering narrative.
Woody knows his way around a comedic set-up & pay-off: Woody’s kids’ have a penchant for tying people’s shoes under dining tables; a girl mistakes him for Woody Allen and he goes with it; a conversation between Bono and a cop quickly goes downhill; after throwing up on someone, Woody declares, “It’s all vegan and organic, if that helps.” After getting amped up by Owen Wilson, they trade hilarious insults, riffing on their love/hatred of Wes Anderson. My favorite moment may be a tiny non-sequitur at the police station, wherein a character suddenly speaks French.
There are some creaks in the narrative that stem from the limitations of the shoot: far-fetched moments, some stilted dialogue, continuity issues (e.g. it’s clearly not 6:45 am when Woody gets out of jail). Still, those glitches are forgivable considering the gargantuan task the crew pulled off: to make a film this structured seem loose and improvised. “Lost in London” is highly self-aware, poking fun at celebrity culture, actors past their prime, and the entitlement of the wealthy. It seems like Woody had a blast being “Lost in London,” and his excitement is contagious.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime Friday, September 25th
