National Treasure: A Treasure of a Film

A recent Washington Post reviewer called National Treasure a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" for "people who slept through history class." While this line was intended somewhat as a put-down for the film (it being a negative review), the description fits. If you're willing to suspend reality for a couple hours, something most movies these days require you to do, then National Treasure is a fantastic and rewarding historical trip, well worth the price of admission and a bag of popcorn to boot.

The 2004 film, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Jon Turteltaub, stars Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Fraklin Gates, a discredited conspiracy theorist, no longer welcome or respected by his historian colleagues in academic circles, due to his obsessive and as-yet-unsuccessful treasure quest. The treasure Gates is seeking is of incalculable value, and according to legend, was protected for generations by the Knights Templar and later the Freemasons.

In on the conspiracy were such notable Founding Fathers as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin (of course), and the last surving signer of the Declaration, Charles Carroll, who sends the Gates family on their generation-spanning quest, one that drives Gates's father (played skillfully by Jon Voight) to bitterness and disillusionment. National Treasure provides whirlwind tour of Boston, Washington, D.C. and, of course, Philadelphia. Along the way are shootouts (with little actual violence), car chases, intrigue, and a series of puzzles that bring our heroes and villains ever closer to that ultimate destination where "X" marks the spot.

There is something refreshing about a film that is not afraid to believe in something. In this case, what National Treasure believes in is America. And at the end of the movie, the moviegoer senses that the real "treasure" isn't what Gates is looking to find, but rather history itself - and all that it represents.

There is a tendency for many modern moviegoers and critics to prefer darker, edgier films like Maria, Full of Grace that paint a gloomy picture of life and push a particular agenda or American Beauty that seek to completely upend Americans' conception of "Middle America" or "family values."

It didn't use to be that way. In the old days, Hollywood largely subscribed to Sam Goldwyn's famous dictum: "If you want to send a message, use Western Union." With the exception of supporting the United States while it was at war, its "message" was mainly wholesome family entertainment.

But those days are waned (though, fortunately, they are not completely gone). The artistic fields of endeavor have always disproportionately attracted individuals with a non-traditional outlook on life. Such people tend to gravitate to fields that thrive on artistic and personal expression, free from external restraints and conventions. Their worldview typically entails a rebellious defiance of the status quo and authority, an often-adversarial relationship with reigning traditions, institutions, and values.

National Treasure jettisons all such twisted motives, and just seeks to entertain. And it does so in a way that honors our nation's history and pays respect to what America stands for. These are the kinds of films that Hollywood used to make, and it's nice to see that it still knows how to make them.