Ferrell's reboot of '70s show rife with gross-out laughs.

After his bizarre theories about time-travel and inter-dimensional wormholes earn him the scorn of the scientific community, Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) is exiled to working as a tour guide at the La Brea tar pits.

Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), the one person who believes his theories, finds him, encourages him to build his dimension-spanning equipment, and then leads him to a souvenir stand in the desert run by Will (Danny McBride) that just happens to be at a weak spot between worlds. Soon, the three are transported to a strange primitive world of dinosaurs, friendly primates, and scary lizard men.

What saves "Land of the Lost" from being annoying or overblown is the naked transparency of its low ambitions; this isn't a serious-minded reinvention of the series, or an attempt to make a work of art out of '70s TV. Instead, it's a chance for Ferrell and McBride -- two talented comedic improvisers -- to do their thing in a world of dinosaurs and dangers, peril and parody.

Director Brad Silberling knows this, working from a script by two ex-"Saturday Night Live" writers, so he goes easy on spectacle and heavy on slapstick. "Land of the Lost" is hardly the most original comedy -- Ferrell's playing another of his arrogant airheads, McBride another of his roughneck buffoons -- and yet something about the sci-fi setting makes what could have been tired moments fresh, as if a familiar restaurant redecorated while still serving old favorite recipes.

A broad, foolish comedy, "Land of the Lost" has more than a few laughs, even if it is somehow both expensive and disposable.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie contains extensive (yet genial) vulgar language as well as an extended sequence where some of our heroes are clearly stoned on a natural narcotic/hallucinogenic substance.

There's also a high degree of body-function humor: at one point a character douses himself in dinosaur urine to mask his scent, an egg is removed from a huge pile of dinosaur feces, and a character is swallowed whole and later excreted by a dinosaur.

Families can talk about the phenomenon of '70s TV shows coming to the big-screen; does this represent the way these shows have wormed their way into the public consciousness on the level of their merit, or instead as a constantly repeated exercise in money making and profit taking? Families can also talk about Will Ferrell -- what do all his characters seem to have in common? What's behind his comedic appeal?

Studio: Universal Pictures Director: Brad Silberling Cast: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride Genre: Action/Adventure Run Time: 99 minutes Theatrical Release: 6/5/2009 MPAA Rating: PG-13 MPAA Explanation: Crude and sexual content, and for language including a drug reference.

Reviewed by James Rocchi.

See more about "Land of the Lost" at Common Sense Media.