Gulliver's Travels (2010)

In an attempt to impress Travel Editor Darcy Silverman (Amanda Peet) Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) "writes" a sample of a travel article to be considered for a position as a travel writer for the New York Tribune newspaper. Silverman is so impressed by Gulliver's plagiarized piece that she instantly moves him out of his previous position in the mail room and immediately sends him to the Bermuda Triangle on assignment. He gets his own column called "Gulliver's Travels." While in the MIDDLE of the ocean he encounters a hurricane/typhoon and wakes up tied down in the tiny kingdom of Liliput. There is some turmoil for awhile but Gulliver eventually lives among the Lilliputians as a kind of celebrity. He spins yarns of who he is in "his" world and eventually makes an enemy of a powerful foe and truths and misconceptions are exposed and Gulliver's giant character is questioned.

This movie follows the novel more closely, surprisingly, than a lot of the other Gulliver stories though it is sometimes hard to tell with Jack Black's usual silliness. The film shows the problems with class-distinction and aristocracy as the original novel had intended. It also uses bodily functions that seem silly but are also part of the novel.

The movie poked fun at our pop culture mentality and as long as you take it for how it was intended you will have a good time. It is silly and absurd and obviously aimed at children as well as adults (the previews were almost all for kids movies). We all had a good time though there were times that we were laughing while the rest of the theater was silent. Maybe they were still sore about the Flarping after the previews. If you like Jack Black and you liked A Night at the Museum you will like A Night at the Museum meets Jack Black, I mean Gulliver's Travels. I give it 3 stars.