Artful Escapism

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2008)

When a film has canned music, it better be good if it wants to overcome it. A surprisingly good find this year, or in any year, is "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." Canned style music always implies a better film than the filmmakers delivered, but this time the pic lives up to the almost impossible climaxes in the score.
The thing with this one is the actors, and the characters they play. That's always the way it should be, but is, rarely ever, any more. I could see how this simple script was made to sing with the right actors and direction. And the script isn't so simple, after a prologue sucks you in with a missing page from John Wilkes Booth's diary, wittingly produced to start the film on its merry way. And by the end you will laughingly go along, full tilt, with the notion that Mount Rushmore was a cover-up (I won't tell you why).
Next comes the camera work, exposed so it compliments the story, not get in the way of it. The operation and the choice of camera angle, simple pans when they are called for (hello, you need a reason to pan folks), and especially lens choice is done without flare, but in a documentary style that makes Spielberg actually look amateur by comparison. The editing then is absolutely superb, but, look what he had to work with.
Nicholas Cage I like in this, his sidekicks make a trio of sleuths that charm the pants off you, the girl being achingly beautiful without realizing it. And Helen Mirren and Jon Voight make good dysfunctional parents (these are two of the best actors we have ever had), never breaking character no matter what business they are asked to perform. Ed Harris channels a villain out for redemption. Harvey Keitel does a job as the clichéd FBI agent with style.
Like I said, the music is the weak link, but it doesn't ruin the film, just gives it a schmaltzy import that the humor in the story can play against.
I don't recommend many films these days. I saw "The Great Debaters" and highly recommend that as well, but "National Treasure" is artful escapism at its very very best.