Land of the Lost

• Trailer
• Tickets

Movie Details

• Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, SciFi/Fantasy
• Release Date: 2009-06-05 Nationwide
• Running Time: 93 min.
• Director: Brad Silberling
• Cast: Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone, Raymond Ochoa, Pollyanna McIntosh, Logan Manus, Michael Papajohn, Mousa Kraish, Shane Baumel
• Producer: Sid Krofft, Jimmy Miller, Marty Krofft
• Writer: Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas
• Distributor: Universal Pictures
• Official Site: Land of the Lost Official Site

Notwithstanding all the boomer studio executives who grow misty-eyed recollecting nerdy childhoods parked in front of the Krofft brothers' television creation, it's hard to think of a compelling reason to remake the popular 1970s sci-fi adventure show for the big screen. Brad Silberling's amiable big puppy of an update has Will Ferrell running at half speed as an insecure, has-been paleontologist who finds himself lost in time and space with the usual nebbishy Wizard of Oz sidekicks — charming Anna Friel as his fearless assistant, a very funny Danny McBride as a trailer-trash survivalist, and Jorma Taccone as an oversexed Neanderthal. All the while, weird creatures with manga eyes try to get their scaly claws on a time-traveling gizmo that plays gay show tunes far too often to sustain the joke. Like so many nominally child-oriented movies these days, Land of the Lost gets its knickers in such a twist trying to curry favor with several demographics at once — gross-out gags for the nippers, scary dinosaurs for the pimply boys, and a modicum of wit to keep parental bums in seats — that it ends up sagging into a pleasantly undistinguished pudding. The big news is that Matt Lauer, playing himself, can act. A little. Hardly at all, really. But he's a jolly good sport, and quite handy with a fire extinguisher.