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National Treasure (2004) 
Director: John Turteltaub
Rated: PG
Run Time: 131 minutes
Age Recommendations:8 and up
Main Characters: Ben Gates, Abigail Chase, Riley Poole, Ian Howe, and Patrick Gates
Plot: Ben Gates comes from a family of treasure hunters. Now his grandfather believes that the forefathers' buried a treasure somewhere in the country; and have placed clues everywhere, but unfortunately the clues are highly cryptic and scattered all over the place. Now Ben thinks he has found it but it only leads him to another clue which is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. One of his associates, Ian, wants to steal it so that they could get the clue but Ben refuses to do it so Ian tries to kill Ben. But Ben evades him and tries to warn the authorities about Ian's plans but they don't believe him. So Ben takes it upon himself to steal it in order to protect it. And he does but Abigail Chase the curator of the National Archives, where it is kept, discovers what he has done and tries to stop him but gets caught in the crossfire between Ben and Ian. Ben takes her with him. While she doesn’t believe him, he is determined to prove he is right about the treasure. But it won't be easy because Ian's always a step behind him and he is also being hunted by the FBI.
Theme: Never give up on your dreams.
Good Points:
- Storyline is exciting, never a dull moment.
- Gives a fun lesson on history that any age movie goes will appreciate.
- Riley steals the show with his quirky commentaries on their dire situations.
- The score was fantastic.
Downfalls:
- A map on the back of the Declaration of Independence is highly unbelievable.
- They could have developed Ben and Abigail’s relationship a little more.
Buy/Rent/Skip: Buy: This is a fun little jaunt through American History with some action and romance along the way.