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Land of the Lost

5/10

Stars: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone

Director: Brad Silberling

The original Land of the Lost was a seventies' TV series that seems to have passed me by. The producers of the show, Sid and Marty Krofft, who also made TV's H R Pufnstuf around the same time, have refashioned Land as a vehicle for Ferrell, complete with raunchy jokes, both verbal and visual, and superior (although not that superior) special effects.

So, much sexual and toilet humour ensues, as Ferrell plays Dr Rick Marshall (his running feud with TV anchorman Matt Lauer is a comic highlight), whose invention of a tachyon amplifier enables him to travel to a parallel world inhabited by dinosaurs, pterodactyls and scaly green, vaguely man-like creatures. His children in the TV series, Holly and Will, have morphed into Friel, as his research assistant/fan, and McBride, as the redneck owner of a ghost train that, with the help of the amplifier, transports them to the Land of the Lost.

The film is fairly entertaining, especially for Ferrell fans, but lacks the inspiration to push it into a better class of adventure-comedy. Ferrell does his 'big lump' thing, while Friel, affecting a north-country accent, is just awful in a demeaning role that entails having creatures run their hands over her breasts, and McBride a non-personality as Will.

Thrills are mild, laughs icky and few, while Friel rips up her trousers into shorts for no other reason than giving lads a chance to ogle her legs.

David Quinlan

USA 2009. UK Distributor: Universal . Colour (no colour credit).
101 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 26 Jul 2009