National Treasure

I've been wondering for some time now just how they're going to take "The Da Vinci Code" and turn it into a movie. I mean, the book is filled with a ton of seemingly factual information, hidden clues within ancient artifacts, and a lot of little known history. Then, along comes "National Treasure" to set the stage for just such a film. While I suspect Ron Howard and Tom Hanks will do amazing things with "Code", Nicolas Cage's newest (and nearly biggest) hit does a solid job of entertaining without overwhelming.

Cage plays archeologist Benjamin Franklin Gates. Gates' life goal has been to track down a treasure of such power and value that it has been hidden for hundreds of years. After determining that the map to this treasure is actually invisible on the back of the Declaration of Independence, Gates sets out to steal the document, both as a way to protect it from evildoers and also to discover the location of the treasure. Assisting him, either willingly or not, are Riley (Justin Bartha as the comedy relief) and Dr. Chase (Diane Kruger as the love interest).

The story moves along with a solid pacing, not only keeping the action ongoing, but also providing a little bit of background on the development of the United States. This is "Indiana Jones" set in Philadelphia and Boston. Cage, who has struggled with his recent films, is back to "Con Air" and "The Rock" form as the all-too-knowledgeable archeologist who's not afraid to something wrong when it's for a good cause.

This is a great movie for the season when you want to avoid theaters packed with little kids or movies loaded with a lot of deep dialog. It's no wonder the nation has made this "Treasure" number one for three weeks in a row. I give it a B+.

"National Treasure" is rated PG with a running time of 2 hours, 11 minutes.