Land of the Lost

A crackpot scientist (Will Ferrell), his perky assistant (Anna Friel) and a redneck tour guide (Danny McBride) are sucked through a time-space portal into a bizarre alternate universe populated by dinosaurs, cave people, lizard men and whatever else pops into the heads of director Brad Silberling and writers Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas. What hasn’t popped into their heads is a coherent plot or any funny lines or situations for their cast, and Ferrell’s talents don’t extend to making something out of a nothing script (in fact, the only laughs are provided by Matt Lauer, playing himself in opening and closing cameos). The original TV series was a big hit with kids, but some of them have grown up and are elbowing today’s kids out of the way to have their own fun with it. Nice special effects, though.