Sid and Marty Kroft's Land of the Lost was my favorite Saturday morning show as a kid. Couldn't get enough of it. Looking at the show now, I can still appreciate it for all the same reasons I appreciated it as a kid. Despite the minuscule budgets and horrendously awful (but oh so sweet) special effects, Land of the Lost thrilled the hell out of me. So, the nostalgic child in me got pretty excited at the notion of a big screen adaptation after all these years. Unfortunately, this is more of a Will Ferrell vehicle than it is a loving homage to the show I hold so dear to my heart.

In Land of the Lost, Will Ferrell is Dr. Rick Marshall, an eccentric goofball of an inventor who proclaims to have the secret to time travel. Even though the world is against him (a world that includes a hilariously dry Matt Lauer) Marshall proceeds to toy with the concept of time travel, and wouldn't you know it? He finds himself whisked back to the day of dinosaurs. Thankfully he has lovely Holly (played by Anna Frial) and nutty Will (an energetic Danny McBride) to keep him company.

This adaptation of Land of the Lost has a tone akin to last year's dumb take on Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Brendan Fraser, but its fused with Ferrell's unmistakable brand of man child humor. I'm a fan of Ferrell, but I'm first to admit that the manchild thing is wearing thin. Old School, Elf, and Anchorman are all outstanding, but the rest of Ferrell's comedy vehicles (i.e. Kicking and Screaming, Semi-Pro, Step Brothers, etc.) were incredibly disappointing to me. Land of the Lost is also a disappointment. It not only fails to rekindle the magic (and nostalgia factor) of the old t.v. show, but it also fails to compete with Ferrell's strongest comical efforts.

Land of the Lost was directed by Brad Silberling, and it doesn't have much style to speak of. Clearly, Silberling is working with a much larger budget than Sid and Marty Kroft ever had. The effects here are of A-list caliber and in a way that hurts the film. I'll give props to Silberling and crew for ensuring that the Sleestak (a bizarre race of bug eyed lizard men) remain men in cheesy looking costumes. If the Sleestak had been CG abominations, I probably would have walked out of the theater.

The humor in this picture is stale. Land of the Lost hits rock bottom during a scene in which Ferrell douses himself with dino-urine. Equally stupid is a scene in which harry primate Cha-Ka gets jiggy with it. The film does have a few memorable moments to speak of. There's a hilarious scene in which Ferrell and McBride do a zany rendition of Cher's "Do You Believe". I also liked the running gag between Ferrell and a disgruntled Tyrannosaurus Rex. It seems that even dinosaurs get their feelings hurt when you make fun of them. Still, as a comedy, Land of the Lost isn't nearly funny enough. As I sat there watching this film labor to get every measly little laugh, I was reminded of 1981's Caveman starring Ringo Starr and Shelly Long. That film was trashed by critics, but I always got a kick out of it. There's a great sight gag in that picture that involves a crater and a fried dinosaur egg. Just a brilliant bit. Unfortunately, Land of the Lost lacks that sort of imagination. Furthermore, it resorts to quite a few dick and fart jokes so think twice before taking smaller children to see it.

At the end of the day, I was pretty indifferent towards this movie. It didn't fulfill my life long dream of witnessing that perfect Land of the Lost film. On the other hand, I suppose it made me laugh more than Year One did, so that's saying something.

Grade: C