skywardpictures

When a film has canned music, it better be good if it wants to overcome it. A surprisingly good find this year, or in any year, is "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." Canned style music always implies a better film than the filmmakers delivered, but this time the pic lives up to the almost impossible climaxes in the score.

The thing with this one is the actors, and the characters they play. That's always the way it should be, but is, rarely ever, any more. I could see how this simple script was made to sing with the right actors and direction. And the script isn't so simple, after a prologue sucks you in with a missing page from John Wilkes Booth's diary, wittingly produced to start the film on its merry way. And by the end you will laughingly go along, full tilt, with the notion that Mount Rushmore was a cover-up (I won't tell you why).

Next comes the camera work, exposed so it compliments the story, not get in the way of it. The operation and the choice of camera angle, simple pans when they are called for (hello, you need a reason to pan folks), and especially lens choice is done without flare, but in a documentary style that makes Spielberg actually look amateur by comparison. The editing then is absolutely superb, but, look what he had to work with.

Nicholas Cage I like in this, his sidekicks make a trio of sleuths that charm the pants off you, the girl being achingly beautiful without realizing it. And Helen Mirren and Jon Voight make good dysfunctional parents (these are two of the best actors we have ever had), never breaking character no matter what business they are asked to perform. Ed Harris channels a villain out for redemption. Harvey Keitel does a job as the clichéd FBI agent with style.

Like I said, the music is the weak link, but it doesn't ruin the film, just gives it a schmaltzy import that the humor in the story can play against.

I don't recommend many films these days. I saw "The Great Debaters" and highly recommend that as well, but "National Treasure" is artful escapism at its very very best.

Okay, so there aren't enough reviews praising this? So, I will write one. It is not so much that this film is underrated, it deserves the place it has, in the unvarnished uniqueness of post French Connection New York films greenlit because Connection won best picture. This picture is interesting because in the middle of all the crime stuff, it's center is really a chewy for relationships (the kind that guys write after watching 'The Dirty Dozen' or 'Serpico' 20 times), and it is that dark center of distrust with it's dangerous home truths that provides the engine of drama.

Ever feel like that's all life is -- police stories? This one will fuel you're suspicions, if you allow yourself to go along with it (which is hard to do), but that's what New York dark cinema is supposed to do.

But see it to celebrate Susan Blakely, with 'Rich Man Poor Man' as the second part of the double bill. She has her place as a TV queen but before that she also did some very nice work large screen and showed real promise with this pic. The wardrobe, the Tidyman script, the Tosi cinematography in New York, and with the tortured performance of Moriarty there you have it. It is not a satisfying film, that is why the reactions, but it isn't supposed to be. "Report to the Commissioner" happens every day here, ask James Mills who wrote it, he has since discovered it happens all over the world.

Watch 'The Way We Were' after to see Blakely just coming on the scene, if this one is too dark for you, or, 'Who'll Stop the Rain' to see Moriarty.