johnlink ranks NATIONAL TREASURE (2004)
After stomaching the brutal, emotional marathon that is ANTICHRIST, Liz and I needed something a little more popcorn-inspired to wind down our evening with. For Liz, that means watching the first thirty-five minutes of a movie she is very familiar with before falling asleep, for me that means staying awake because I am a completest and can’t fathom not finishing what I started, even if it would be much smarter to just go to bed.
I watched NATIONAL TREASURE (2004) on 6.7.10. It was my fourth viewing of the film. TRAILER HERE
There is some good to be said about this Nicolas Cage vehicle. For one, it ages decently well. No horrendous special effects or briefcase sized cell phones to make it seem an antique. The believability factor is very low, but no lower than any INDIANA JONES film or any BOND movie. The characters are amiable and serve to entertain for a couple hours, even if they don’t embed themselves in memory as the previous two examples do.
But, for me, what keeps this from nearing Classic Blockbuster status is that the script, acting, and direction are all run-of-the-mill. No one thing about this movie makes it stand out. For Liz, she loves the pseudo-history it presents. She doesn’t pretend any of it is real, but for her she digs the historical references. For me that stuff makes it more fun by a bit, but doesn’t elevate the mediocrity of the whole.
No, NATIONAL TREASURE is what it is. A distracting enough couple of hours which won’t insult you, but won’t inspire either. Some of the funny stuff makes you chuckle, while other moments make you groan. I can smile and laugh at it, but wouldn’t put it in any best-of lists.
SCORES
FILM: 3; MOVIE: 8; ACTING: 4; WRITING: 4 (What is this?)
3+8+4+4+0=19
FINAL SCORE: 4.75
johnlinkmovies 
John, I remember you and I watching this one with someone who lived in Philadelphia and laughing when he’d point things out like “They couldn’t get there on foot! That’s like 10 miles they just ran!”
For myself, I do enjoy the historical references in this movie, and probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much without them. But after seeing The Da Vinci Code I realized just how much this movie “borrowed” (stole) from Dan Brown. Still a fun adventure movie (I just saw another one of those recently – Prince of Persia).
Funny you mention that story, I told it to Liz as we were watching that section!
And I agree about your assessment of the film, for the most part. It’s why I do the rankings the way I do. National Treasure is a fun, entertaining movie and not much else. I think my rankings show that, without making you think you are about to see Shawshank Redemption (which is entertaining AND well acted AND well written AND important as a film).