Pleasure & Prejudice

Rating: 7/10 (11 December 2005)

Seldom have I been so prejudged against a movie as in the case of "National Treasure". Watch the trailer, people told me, then you get all the good parts without having to sit through the intermediary boredom.
I'll admit, most of the gratuitous historical flashbacks are linked in the trailer: Crusaders' ships, pyramids...spoiled or not, to a history nut they are a treat in their brevity, because even a battle taking place during the American Revolution seen ever so briefly comes with the price tag of re-enacting a Battle taking place during the American Revolution. These flashbacks aren't just two weirdos in Halloweens costumes running around in a smog-ridden set piece.
Oh, right, the actual movie. Nicolas Cage makes good use of his smoky voice to convincingly portray the treasure hunter working his way through a series of complicated clues & Tommy Lee Jones is lovable as always in a slightly less hard-edged portrayal of his Sam Gerard signature role (The Fugitive, US Marshalls), but that about does it for memorable performances. The Fraulein & the computer nerd were sometimes funny, but still.
The story itself ...I don't know, really. It takes some inspiration to set it up but whether it's believable & executable outside the Hollywood universe... ,I don't know. I just went with the ride & hugged a faraoic statue. This movie's infamous boredom does show after the examination of the Declaration of Independence takes place (I bet its theft inspires the comparisons with Ocean's Eleven, sigh) but the pace picks up slightly once we get to the staircase.
Clearly this movie is worth a watch with a good drink, but nothing memorable...what I recall wouldn't even fit my Gogd-Bad-Ugly frame.