Cady's Take:

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is determined to see the treasure map that is written in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Assisting him on his historical scavenger hunt are the wise-cracking Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), and Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) the beautiful curator of the National Archives.

The story could simply have been about one man's effort to steal the Declaration; instead it's about two men's competing efforts. A member of Gates' crew, Ian Howe (Sean Bean), turns rogue and decides to steal the Declaration, despite Gates' objections. From there the movie dives headfirst into incredulity as we rush from one picturesque historic site to another, all the while watching the clues and the ridiculousness, but not the treasure, pile up.

The plot is highly improbable, the heist of the Declaration is laughably preposterous and simply put the movie takes too many liberties and goes too far. But, I suppose some viewers may feel that a movie's purpose is to entertain and doesn't necessarily have to be plausible. For those individuals who just want to watch things blow up, people dodging bullets, and crazy escapism, I guess this would be considered harmless fun.

Who knew the Founding Fathers were, in addition to building a country, able to fight the British, forge a constitution, indulge in fantastical treasure hunts, leave cryptic messages in several dozen random locations, and build a hidden underground crypt in Manhattan!?

"National Treasure" is anything but! A wholly disorganized film filled with contrivances, it seems to be almost a parody of the action-adventure genre. Nicholas Cage, who I generally enjoy, plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, a man whose father, grandfather, great-grandfather (you see where I am going here) have devoted their lives to finding a mysterious and grand treasure that the Founding Fathers sought to protect by hiding it, and then placing random clues in the Arctic and on the back of the Declaration of Independence, to name two of the most preposterous.

Ben is joined by a smart mouthed side kick Riley (Justin Bartha) and his lady friend, National Archivist Abigail Chase, to protect the DOI from thieves who only care about the "treasure" part and not the "national" part. Ben is a history lover? Adorer? Worshipper? Regardless, we are inundated with weird facts about American history throughout the film, which I imagine was a device meant to keep the plot coherent. It does not. And are they seriously trying to convince me that the Founding Fathers put an invisible map on the back of the DOI that could be revealed with lemon juice and a hair dryer? Or that the National Archivist Dr. Chase (Diane Kruger) would allow anyone to swipe lemon juice on the back of said document, and then blow it dry with a hair dryer? I'm pretty sure the vetting process would prevent someone so insane from holding the position of guardian of our national, um, treasures.  

Save up 2 hours and 11 minutes of your weekend for another movie, but not for "National Treasure". I can only hope that there is no sequel in the works for this movie.