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| Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. He believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and should be seen there and not on television screens. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. |
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closeThursday, Jun. 04, 2009
'Land of the Lost' should stay that way
By Gary Wolcott, atomictown.com
Regular readers know I am not a Will Ferrell fan.
A career now bordering on superstardom blows my mind. While I’ll admit Ferrell is likable, his acting is limited to one note and he has lousy comic timing and no ad-libbing skills.
-- Read The Critic of Pure Reason's review.
I was, however, intrigued when producers Sid and Marty Krofft and their partners cast Ferrell as Dr. Rick Marshall in a satirical redo of their legendary Land of the Lost.
Its bad sets, bad acting and awful weekly plots haunted Saturday morning TV from 1974 to 1976. This seems like a good fit. A mediocre comedian featured in a parody of what some believe is the worst Saturday morning kiddie show in history.
In the updated spoof, Marshall is a loser inventor who develops a machine to send you sideways in time. Anna Friel’s Holly Cantwell convinces Marshall to test his theory. In a tourist trap cave, the two -- with their cave guide, Danny McBride’s Will Stanton -- get sucked into a vortex and wind up in land that doubles as a lost and found for every awful movie and TV concept in history.
An idea that should prompt a dozen really funny scenes doesn’t. Though Friel and McBride (Pineapple Express) have a blast with their characters and the effects are decent, Ferrell’s monotone and monotonous Marshall suck the life out of them.
This time, the ruination of a movie is not his fault. A non-funny screenplay from TV writers Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas and the pompous production of director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) undermine the so-called comedian and his co-stars.
It proves that The Land of the Lost should have stayed that way.
Mr. Movie rating: 2 1/2 stars
Rated PG-13 for mature themes, some sexual content. It opens Friday, June 5 at Regal’s Columbia Mall 8 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
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