beautiful but meanders

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2018)

It's 1905 Ireland. Major Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) with no medals is snubbed for his unfortunate choice of ancestors. He eagerly accepts the Royal Geographical Society's mission to map a river in the amazon to calm the near-warring Bolivia and Brazil. He leaves behind his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) and young children. He is joined by Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson). The group guided by a former slave native finds evidences of civilization in the jungle. Percy returns to ridicule for his claim of a lost city of Z. James Murray (Angus Macfadyen) is one of his few supporters who joins him on the next expedition. Murray turns out to be an incompetent coward who sabotages the quest and demeans him upon return to London. He is dismissed by everyone including his angry son Jack. After being temporarily blinded by a heroic action in WWI, he returns to England vindicated and his son Jack (Tom Holland) convinces him to lead one final quest for his lost amazonian city.
There are some beautiful scenes. The quest is a personal epic. The acting is fine. At its best, the river journey is Apocalypse Now. The story does meander since there are actually three journeys. The back and forth keeps the flow disjointed. My favorite parts are all in the Amazon. The native in the first quest is compelling. The second is Murray's cowardice. The third is the native warriors. I almost wish for a fictionalization with one simple journey.