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Nicolas Cage, attempting to squander whatever good will he might have amassed with audiences from his work in “Adaptation” and “Matchstick Men”, stars as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a third-generation treasure hunter (and considering that his father and grandfather are played by Jon Voight and Christopher Plummer, a third-generation ham as well) who dreams of one day uncovering the greatest prize of all time-a massive treasure acquired by the Knights Templar centuries ago and which was brought to America and hidden by our Freemason Founding Fathers. The search has already brought ridicule to the Gates family and the only person Benjamin can find to help finance his quest is a sleazy foreigner named Ian Howe (Sean Bean). In the Arctic Circle, Benjamin uncovers a key artifact and cracks an elaborate code in about two seconds to figure out where the next clue is supposedly hidden-on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Ian leaves Benjamin and sidekick Riley (Justin Bartha) for dead and flees in order to steal the document for himself.

Unable to get anyone to believe his story-not the FBI, not Homeland Security, not even the cute running the National Archives (Diane Kruger)-Benjamin realizes that there is only one thing that he can do to protect the document (and the treasure) from being taken by Ian-he and Riley must steal it themselves. Of course, if Benjamin were half as brilliant as he claims to be, and not just a character in a crappy Jerry Bruckheimer film, he would have realized that Ian’s band of thugs would have most likely gotten busted in their attempt, thereby giving some credence to his wild story, and that his actions have only made the document more vulnerable to theft. Nevertheless, he goes through with his plan-an elaborate operation involving the ability to get into the public section of the National Archives with a laser-equipped video camera, the inability of security guards to recognize that the far-too-nonchalant “janitor” is not who he seems to be and a tight situation that can only be escaped with the help of a well-placed VISA plug-and makes off with both the Declaration of Independence and the cute blonde. Although the trailers would have you believe otherwise, these events take up roughly the first 45 minutes or so of the actual film. The clues on the back of the document lead to clues and Benjamin and his gang continue on a chase that finds them ransacking the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, at least one grave, several vast underground chambers and whatever shreds of credulity that hapless audience members might still possess.

Look, I am fully aware that looking for logic or profound narrative development in a film like “National Treasure” is a fool’s mission. In a film like this, all I really ask for is that the filmmakers and actors develop and perform the story with a certain amount of wit and style and enough forward momentum to keep the plot holes from becoming too obvious. However, the general sense that I got from watching the film is of a bunch of people who recognized early on that they were in a stinker and have therefore decided to expend only a minimal effort. Take the basic plot-even the most forgiving sort would have to admit that it is completely preposterous. A smart film would have fun with its increasing implausibilities (as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” did) but director Jon Turteltaub, directing a screenplay written by many but without any real note of individuality, goes about it with a dogged earnestness that sucks any entertainment out of the proceedings and matters aren’t helped by listless action scenes that look exactly like the kind of action scenes you would expect from the man who made “While You Were Sleeping” and “Disney’s The Kid”. Even the usually brilliant cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, whose work on “The Right Stuff” and “The Black Stallion” still remains breathtaking today, turns in the most listless and anonymous look of his entire career; the film has the bland, edge-free style that plays okay on television but which gains nothing on the silver screen.

There are many limp performances as well, running the range from wild overacting (from Cage, who must realize that he is in danger of doing the same thing to his career in these brainless action movies that Burt Reynolds did to his a couple of decades ago) to listless underplaying (from Kruger, who, as she did in “Troy” and “Wicker Park”, has apparently mastered the art of looking simultaneously stunning and stunned) to sheepish embarrassment (courtesy of Harvey Keitel as the FBI agent doggedly pursuing our heroes). The closest thing to energetic work comes from Justin Bartha, whose entire performance seems to convey relief that whatever flaws there may be, at least it is better (slightly) than “Gigli”. Other than him, everyone else on the screen appears as bored and surly as those in the audience-of course, they are getting millions for the privilege while viewers are left empty-handed. A good deal if you are one of those actors-somewhat less so if you aren’t.

Upon reflection, I suppose that I can think of one other person who might get a kick out of this film. (Please consider the remainder of this review to be one giant Spoiler.) The hero, as you know, is desperate to restore the good name of his family from the ridicule that has been heaped upon it by those namby-pamby jerks in Washington (who have gone so far to the other side that they have allowed common foreigners-a German, no less!- to be put in charge of our most precious national treasures). To do so, he must embark on an act that he knows is reckless and immoral, but he justifies it with such proclamations as “Those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.” (Said action has disastrous results specifically because of his actions but he never quite seems to grasp that.) He claims that he is only in it for the good of the country and not for personal gain, yet he is swimming in wealth at the end from his actions (and the wealth, of course, comes from treasures plundered from other cultures and civilizations). Finally, his oppressor, an independently-wealthy foreigner, is dealt a humiliating defeat in the virtual center of the liberal world-Boston. I have a sneaky suspicion that “National Treasure” is going to be in heavy rotation on Air Force One for the next four years.

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=11158&reviewer=389
originally posted: 11/19/04 16:08:58
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