Entertaining, if completely preposterous

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2007)

The Book of Secrets is entertaining more for the Indiana Jones-style booby traps and the amusing bickering between Gates' estranged parents than the lackluster plot. The concept of a villain is seriously underdone. The bad guys are willing to shoot people and wreak havoc on the streets of London to get what they want, but towards the end the villain agrees to self-sacrifice as long as he "gets credit" for the find? Please. Any personality so motivated by greed would have forced more of a confrontation than we see here - a Lara Croft or James Bond sort of duel is in order.
I realize that conspiracy theories are the "in" plot line lately, and they do provide an intriguing element beyond any special effects or the supernatural. But the Book of Secrets poses other believability problems than just whether the viewer accepts the idea of secret inscriptions on the Statue of Liberty or coded writings in a Civil War diary. For example, the Secret Service would not allow an uninvited Gates walking past them at the dinner party just because he's dressed like a waiter - Secret Service screen everybody in attendance at such events. Similarly, sneaking into Buckingham Palace was amusing, but it would not be as simple as depicted. Hidden tablets in desks locked by ancient tumblers and a book concealed by the presidents in the Library of Congress were interesting, but far-fetched. Top it all of with a few Indiana Jones-style devices such as rock carvings that one turns to open secret doors and a lever that one pulls to reveal a tunnel in a boulder, and we have the makings of a completely preposterous story. While entertaining, I never forgot I was watching a movie.