Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha and Nicolas Cage
(Credit: Disney)
- Photos:
-
- Running time:
- 130 minutes
- Rated:
- PG
- Cast:
- Nicolas Cage -
- Ben Gates
- Jon Voight -
- Patrick Gates
- Harvey Keitel -
- Sadusky
- Ed Harris -
- Jeb Wilkinson
- Diane Kruger -
- Abigail Chase
(14 ratings)
Big question: Even if "Book of Secrets" is as silly as the original "National Treasure"—in which a treasure map was found on the back of the Declaration of Independence—can it at least be as goofily entertaining?
Skip it: What once felt like fun, harmless adventure—kinda like riding Big Thunder Mountain at Disney World—now may actually slow your pulse down, except for unintentionally hysterical stuff like Gates deciphering in seconds that a desk is actually a huge combination lock with a clue inside. If someone read this script out loud on a street corner, they'd be arrested immediately—not for being a conspiracy theorist, just for the improper distribution of garbage.
Catch it: If you're happy to let the movie provide you with all the answers, no matter how obvious they might be. Even when there's a direct shot of a large sign that reads "J.Edgar Hoover FBI Building," the movie still provides text onscreen identifying that it is, in fact, the J.Edgar Hoover FBI Building. Thanks for solving that mystery!
Bottom line: Like an episode of "The Real World," everything that happens is totally bonkers, but you're able to watch casually, cracking up at fools taking their own spewing nonsense seriously. But among lots of absurd explanations it's impossible to care about the search for answers to stupid questions, and maybe "Book of Secrets" might stumble onto something resembling treasure if its mental map weren't so mixed up.
Bonus: The one thing in the movie that we understand is Gates' dad (Jon Voight) asserting that once a piece of information is on the Internet, "there's no stopping it now." It's also what the cast of "High School Musical" now calls, "the Vanessa Hudgens rule."
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