LAND OF THE LOST

“LAND OF THE LOST” (Will Ferrell)

This movie scored a 9 on my ‘laugh-o-meter’ & most of those were counted during the opening & closing scenes with Matt Lauer playing Matt Lauer... When Matt Lauer is the funniest part of your film, can it possibly be any good? The answer, of course, is no (Sorry, Matt, even though you were obviously the best part of this film, the fact that your appearance was a cameo probably helped)
Everyone asks, “Did you watch the original series?” & no, I wasn’t even aware that there was a kid’s show called ‘Land Of The Lost’ prior to the making of this film. When I saw an episode on TV about the same time that the movie came out, I decided to wait until it came to the cheaper theatres to see it... It was worth the wait, I would have felt pretty stupid shelling out $12 to see this. Still, for $6, I’d say it was worth $3 apiece for my wife & I to get out of the heat & watch this silly, typical Will Ferrell ‘fluff’ piece.
As Dr. Rick Marshall, Ferrell goes on the Today show to hawk his book about Time Travel where he is ridiculed by host Matt Lauer. This humorous beginning gives you hope that the rest of the film will be more entertaining than you originally imagined... it isn’t.
Other than the mildly amusing scenes involving the Tyrannosaurus Rex, “Land Of The Lost’ is just that – Lost; a comedy looking desperately for laughs. Anna Friel plays Holly, a woman who believes in Dr. Marshall’s theories & helps him to create his time traveling machine. She does... okay.
Danny McBride plays Will, the guy working at the cheapest ‘museum’ you’d ever set foot in – As Will ‘guides’ Dr. Marshall & Holly through a broken down amusement park ride, the time machine activates & sends them all to a world where time intersects... A land that is ‘lost’. . . too bad somebody found it.
Jorma Something (an ex-member of Jefferson Airplane) plays a ‘monkeyman’ named Chaka who befriends the lost trio after they save him from being executed & together they do battle with various dinosaurs & lizard men in rubber suits. Fortunately only 2 of these lizard men has the ability to speak & one of them sounds uncannily like Mr. Spock(The old one, not the new one)
One of the problems I had with this movie is the Ferrell/McBride combo – it just didn’t work for me. It seemed as though they thought they were funnier than they actually were. One of those – ‘All we have to do is stand here & say whatever stupid lines come into our heads & it’s bound to be hilarious because we are so freaking funny’ - situations.
Having recently viewed ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ again, it makes me wonder why Ferrell has decided to never again venture into a meaningful role & spend the rest of his career doling out one piece of crap after another? So that every time a Will Ferrell movie comes out everyone will have low expectations and when it has a modicum of amusement value the movie going public will at least be slightly impressed?
I don't get it.