Overly long, often ludicrous, but still reasonably fun

Rating: 6/10 (15 November 2006)

Please don't take this movie seriously. If you do so it will prove impossible to enjoy it. The whole thing is implausible, impossible, utterly ridiculous. But having said that, it's not all that bad actually. No, you cannot steal the Declaration of Independence. And if you somehow do, you certainly can't constantly be rolling and unrolling it like some old Farrah Fawcett poster you used to have on your wall as you take it out of its handy carrying tube. Squirting lemon juice on it and blowing on it with a hair dryer would probably not be good ideas either. But try not to think about these things. Thinking is not recommended as you watch this movie. Just turn off your brain, enjoy it as best you can, and when it's over you can look back and say, "well that was all rather silly wasn't it?"
Anyhow our rather silly yet reasonably engrossing plot follows treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates, as played by Nicolas Cage. Gates comes to believe that clues to the location of a treasure of unimaginable wealth are written in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Well that makes perfect sense now doesn't it? Gates decides he must steal the Declaration before the bad guys get to it. Oy, there's always gotta be bad guys. Anyhow, with the help of National Archivist (and requisite love interest because we must have a love interest...its a rule or something) Abigail Chase, played by Diane Kruger, Gates stays one step ahead of the requisite bad guys and deciphers clue after clue which inevitably lead to...more clues. The movie starts to drag and you get the sense a good half hour or so could have been cut out and nobody would have missed it.
In the two lead roles Cage and Kruger do pretty well with the material they have to work with. So much of the movie is impossibly silly but they more or less make it work. Playing the role of the requisite comic sidekick Justin Bartha unfortunately fails to be the least bit funny. In fact you'll find that when the movie tries to be funny it is desperately unfunny but in what are meant to be serious moments you may find yourself trying to stifle a giggle. That's not good. Harvey Keitel and Jon Voight float in and out but don't make much of an impression. But I'm sure they collected nice paychecks.
The whole thing is so formulaic...you have seen this movie before and you have seen it done a lot better. Indiana Jones anyone? But it is what it is and it's not all bad. You'll probably wish it was shorter. You'll probably wish it was funnier. You'll probably wish it was at least remotely plausible. But all things considered, despite all its flaws, it's reasonably fun. You could do a lot worse.