If you want a rating everyone can grasp, in terms of Jerry Bruckheimer films, National Treasure is less Gone in 60 Seconds and closer to Pirates of the Caribbean. In Nic Cage terms, it’s less Adaptation and more Con-Air.

	Right here, it says "You will star in Valley Girl and never hear the end of it." Oh, tartar sauce!

Go ahead, chide National Treasure as just another Bruckheimer film. I happen to have liked Con-Air, so obviously we don’t share the same tastes in mindless action flicks.

Every once in a while I could use a movie where explosions are natural, bullets never hit people and car chases and foot chases don’t attract the attention of passers-by or the police.

Sure, it’s ridiculous, but entertaining. The style isn’t groundbreaking, by any means, but the subject matter is interesting, the characters are likeable and there’s plenty of funny splashed around, especially at the expense of the outlandish plot.

Let’s review: The Freemasons of the Founding Fathers stashed a treasure that somehow came into their possession by way of the Romans in Israel, then the Knights Templar from the Crusades. I don’t know how that connects with the American Revolution, but obviously George Washington and company went to war for gold! Tories carried signs saying “No blood for plunder!” I bet Halliburton built all the secret tunnels!

For Nic Cage and his dad, Jon Voight, it’s a family legend, which has relegated their good name to kooksville in the eyes of the history community. Six generations of men from the family haven’t even figured out the first doggone clue, but Nic won’t give up on his dream. Goonies never say die! Take that, Chester Copperpot!

(Okay, why was Voigt not marked by the spellchecker, but the proper spelling of Voight is?)

Along for the ride are Baromir (Sean Bean) and Helen of Troy (Diane Kruger), plus a sidekick who is a computer geek, not a history nerd. C’mon, people, there’s a difference! Riley wants the money, but hey, why not some adventure?

How evil is Baromir? He hatches his nefarious scheme to steal the Declaration of Independence while in the Watergate hotel! **cue ominous music** While Cage uses secrecy and science to do the same (for Public Good, of course), Baromir storms in blowing doors up and firing guns. Told you he was a bad guy.

Helen of Troy isn’t much more than eye candy. That’s not a bad thing. Although, I'm pretty sure that among the codes was a line saying that "if the blonde hottie gets naked, you can skip all the clues and head straight to the treasure," but our genius Cage couldn't decipher the phrase even though old Ben Franklin wrote it in ALL CAPS using font size 78. (Ben was a man before his time.)

Treasure- sponsored by Urban Outfitters clothing retailer - isn’t exactly an archaeological thriller along the lines of Indiana Jones, but the pop history that no doubt has many founding fathers chewing on the fake wigs in the graves, is at least fun and sometimes informative as long as you know what to believe and what’s helping the plot conveniently move along.

If National Treasure is a hit, and The DaVinci Code starring Tom Hanks is sure to be a hit, then I look forward to summer 2007 when we get a big budget movie about how the Lyon’s Club holds the secrets to the legend of King Arthur, which as it turns out, is completely true. Our heroes (played by Jude Law and Jessica Biel) travel to the U.K., steal the Magna Carta to read the map on the back and unravel the secrets!

The verdict:

p.s. - The National Archives plays along for us on their site, letting moviegoers know that, wow, there really isn’t a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence! That they know of, I mean. But there is a nifty link that lets you “sign” the parchment and print one out for yourself.