National Treasure:  Book of Secrets

Written on January 7, 2008;  to air on January 8 & 10:

Some big names in this movie, but no real acting performances.  Nicholas Cage can’t act anyway, and his attempt to be Harrison Ford is doomed from the start.  Jon Voigt, Harvey Keitel and Ed Harris sometimes play well, unlike Cage, but here they are just walking through inane parts.

I don’t mind seeing big hulking chunks of timber and boulders crashing down around heroes.  That is as de rigueur as car chases in action films;  but it is nice to see where they came from, who they might be about to hit and where they end up.  Just a cascade of falling objects is lost on me.

Not sure exactly what they are trying to do here, Rube Goldberg meets Indiana Jones?;  but it flops.  Diane Kruger is drop-dead gorgeous so at least my eyes had a place to rest while the rest of my brain was convulsing in torture.

Nicholas Cage, you are no Harrison Ford.  Unfortunately you are Nicholas Cage.  Then again, how many people with such limited talent achieve such success?

It may sound like I go to the movies just to trash them, but not so!  I love good movies!  I start each movie with a great sense of anticipation that the director is going to turn me on.  And action flics are my favorite.  I just have been disappointed time and again lately.  Please, someone, make a good movie!