I Stand Corrected. Sort Of.

Last night I was semi-dragged to see Land of the Lost. Well, not so much dragged as asked, and even though I was making a point to stay away from the dreadful looking film, I threw caution to the wind and decided to give it a shot. Lately I have found myself masochistically subjecting myself to movies I know will be awful for you people, so I can give you an honest warning to stay away and do you that service. You’re welcome. I figured instead of just circumspecting that Land of the Lost will be horrific, I should tell you based on some facts.

Unfortunately for my attitute that’s constantly dying to be negative, it wasn’t horrific. It wasn’t good, per se, but not bad either. The complaint I had heard most about Ferrell’s latest was that it didn’t know what demographic it wanted to appeal to. Is it for kids? Is it for adults? It appeals to both, and yet sometimes is so inappropriate for one group. Well, only if you go in needing it to be categorized. If you need it to be, here’s my impression. This is really not a kids’ movie. But sophisticated it ain’t. Critics said it really didn’t stick to the 1970’s television show it was made after, and maybe it didn’t plot-wise. But I think it did tone-wise. It was kitschy.  Sometimes wacky, sometimes corny, sometimes zany. It was goofy through and through. I have to commend how fast it moved. I was never bored. Even though the creatures were goofy-looking, there was a certain element of action and suspense. And there were enough dirty jokes to keep adults, if faintly, laughing. I think people are missing its subtle 1970’s satire. I mean, this isn’t supposed to be Jurassic Park. It’s kind of poking fun at the gloriously cheesy “action adventure” TV people used to watch in the seventies.

Will Ferrell is in his element here - doesn’t he always seem to play a washed-up professional of some sort that considers himself much more important than anyone else considers him? He did succeed in being significantly more disgusting in this film, though, so…there’s that. (Watch out for a pool scene of Ferrell in wet tightie-whities. I haven’t had much of an appetite since.) Anna Friel is a cute, spunky, if forgettable Gal Friday as Holly, and Danny MacBride does what he does best as an offbeat sidekick with questionable hygiene and even more questionable morals. But really Matt Lauer steals the entire show.

So, whether I like this or not, I’m gonna go ahead and say Land of the Lost might be worth your time, at least for renting when it hits DVD. Just don’t expect wit, intelligence, or ahead-of-its-time plot structuring. If you go in knowing you’re going to get some 1970’s kitsch, I promise you’ll get a few laughs in.

July 2nd, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Reviews | (0)