Poor man's Indiana Jones turned out to be a great treat

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2007)

I felt compelled to write a comment after the smattering of so so reviews this movie got when originally released.
Yes, Nic Cage is no Harrison Ford, and the locales are too familiar to be exotic, but that's what made this movie fun for me.
I really did believe that Cage was a treasure fan boy. And I was giggling to myself that I'd been to many of the movie locations.
The supporting cast of good guys was excellent. The love interest scholar is skeptical, but oh so curious. The disappointed dad (Jon Voigt is it?) just oozes contempt for the treasure hunt. The comical sidekick was hilarious.
Even the bad guys were great. They weren't evil megalomaniacs. They were just greedy guys who wanted to make some cash. They weren't over the top cruel. In fact, they too were hilarious in some scenes. Sean Bean plays a bad guy at his best. He's even a bit lovable in this film.
Perhaps the only actor under-utilized in this movie is Harvey Keitel. To be honest, there wasn't much role to be had. They shouldn't have cast him. A no name would have been sufficient.
You will be pleasantly surprised if you pick this one up as a rental. I don't often think I want to watch a movie twice, but this may deserve a second viewing.