Guy Ritchie’s ‘Fountain of Youth’ Revives Old Treasure Hunter Tropes for Some Fleeting Entertainment 

Alci Rengifo

Guy Ritchie sure isn’t taking any breaks. The English director has been constantly putting out new material nearly every year, from large thrillers to historical action adventures, and even a Netflix series. He has now made “Fountain of Youth,” a mostly entertaining adventure yarn that is supposedly based on some real life details from screenwriter James Vanderbilt but is more of a copycat of other movies. It belongs to that genre of thrillers combining rugged travel with conspiracy theories focused on old artifacts. This is Ritchie on autopilot, breezing through the motions of telling the story while decorating it visually with much of his trademark visual style.

The featured renegade treasure hunter is Luke Purdue (John Krasinski), who annoys his art curator sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) when he steals a priceless Rembrandt from her workplace. Already going through a divorce that could cost her custody of young son Thomas (Benjamin Chivers), Charlotte nonetheless gets pulled into Luke’s latest venture. It turns out he has been hired by Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson), a billionaire who needs Luke and Charlotte’s family reputation for artifact-snatching in order to find the legendary fountain of youth. Owen is suffering from a terminal disease and so he needs the fountain to keep living, maybe forever. If Charlotte agrees to tag along, Owen will bankroll her legal needs. As they start jetting around the world for clues and essentials, the group must also evade Interpol inspector Jamal Abbass (Arian Moayed) and the mysterious Esme (Eiza González).

“Fountain of Youth” is the more family-friendly Guy Ritchie, not the director of hard-hitting reflections on violence like “Wrath of Man” and “The Covenant,” or quirky underworld romps such as “Snatch.” This one is certainly better than his Disney outing, “Aladdin.” For Domhnall Gleeson it certainly meant a shift. “This was certainly a change in tone after the last thing I did, a darker film named ‘Echo Valley,’” he told Entertainment Voice, “this was the chance to do a fun movie and incredibly huge movie. I’ve been a fan of Guy Ritchie for years.” Fun is the general aim of the movie, considering how preposterous Vanderbilt’s plot can get. By now you can guess the checklist of inspiration, but just to be sure, clearly he’s borrowing from “National Treasure,” “Indiana Jones” and “The Da Vinci Code.” You want to chortle out loud when Luke explains to Charlotte how multiple global locales, including Ireland and Switzerland, contain clues for finding the fountain, culminating in the pyramids of Giza. Even the Vatican gets involved when we find out Esme is given a special ancient tool for the eventual standoff. 

The movie’s flaws lie in some imbalances regarding casting. Domhnall Gleeson is perfect as the enigmatic, deceptively kind billionaire who banters endearingly with Thomas. Arian Moayed delivers standard comic relief as the Interpol pursuer unaware of the scale of what’s going on. It’s Krasinski and Portman who don’t necessarily click together in terms of chemistry. You can’t even buy Krasinski when his character tries to flirt with Esme. He’s low key, almost bored with the role, while Portman brings more spark to a character balancing being a responsible mom with risky adventurism. They’re nearly saved by some funny back and forth sniping while exploring a sunken ship or evading Esme and her squad. As with many Ritchie productions, the style ends up becoming the main star anyway. Costume designer Loulou Bontemps keeps everyone dressed in rich threads and color combinations. “I wish I could have kept my watch, but it was worth $10,000,” joked Gleeson. 

“Ritchie has done every kind of genre but it always has a muscularity and a playfulness,” said Gleeson about the English auteur. “You just want to make sure you’re not sucking out any energy. He’s surrounded by a crew who works with him on every job.” That kind of efficiency makes “Fountain of Youth” a serviceable adventure that won’t necessarily rank with the director’s most memorable works. At times it feels a lot like an exercise or a quick escape into popcorn consumption for the sake of doing a gig on Apple TV. Some of Ritchie’s more experimental side peeks through when he does quirky needle drops like Yamasuki’s “Yama Yama,” Then we get the ending, which feels apt for Disney with spooky visual effects and close calls involving ancient traps and codes. Inevitably the challenge is posed of who would even be worthy of taking a sip from the mythical fountain. There is nothing new to see here, even if this movie is nice to look at. But it may just distract enough if ancient legends and bickering siblings are your thing.

“Fountain of Youth” begins streaming May 23 on Apple TV+.