 “National Treasure” is a mildly enjoyable movie following in the tradition of pre-teen adventure books like The Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators, and Encyclopedia Brown. Adults were cast as the leads, but it would not be at all surprising to find out the script was originally intended to feature the usual trio of plucky Scholastic sleuths: Benjamin, Abigail, and Reilly fit the classic roles, most recently used in the “Harry Potter” franchise with Harry, Hermione and Ron. As such, the auto-pilot performances by Nic Cage and Jon Voigt can hardly be carped over. The appeal is all in the treasure and the search for it, and to that end director John Turtletaub has woven a fanciful and mostly satisfying mystery involving Masons and mummies.
Surprisingly, the trio of historical sleuths finds a real treasure-trove, a collection of riches from the various ages of the world. I had expected that instead of finding gold they would find a secret passageway used to smuggle slaves out of the South. A hard scowl would appear on Cage’s face as he saw for the first time that America’s true treasure isn’t money but freedom. It’s better they didn’t go that way. Ben’s quest for gold is quixotic rather than sanctimonious, the life’s work of an obssessive collector rather than a Yankee blowhard, a fact I found comforting in our age of low-brow jingoistic myth-making. Indeed, if there is any American chest-thumping, it’s the gentle sound of bifocals dropping on a schoolmarm’s breast; stamp collectors and librarians will get off on these national treasures, not bloodthirsty patriots. Along with last year’s superb “Pirates of the Caribbean”, this is Bruckheimer’s least cynical film to date. A welcome event, if disconcerting, rather like meeting a rational Republican. |
