And I mean that seriously - there's not a single laugh or even a smile to be had here. There are long set pieces that are clearly meant to be uproarious - a skit involving dinosaur urine and another to do with kissing an apeman are just two examples - but which are over before anything approaching a joke is heard.

And that's despite those scenes dragging on far too long already.

It's as though Ferrell is so famous now that no-one on the set of the film had the guts to tell him he wasn't funny.

In Land of the Lost he plays Dr Rick Marshall a ridiculed scientist who claims it's possible to travel through time, with the help of a "tachyon amplifier".

He builds one and, with the help of student Holly Cantrell (Friel) - the only person who believes in him - ends up in an alternate reality.

Along for the ride is redneck Will Stanton (McBride) who happened to be in the vicinity when the generator was turned on.

The world they enter includes ape creatures, dinosaurs and lizard men called Sleestacks (virtually the only link to the TV series on which this film is based).

What follows is some exceedingly lame crapola storyline about an alien wanting to destroy Earth and the trio needing to find the tachyon thingo before him.

Yawn... who cares? Not me - and neither should you.

As a footnote - whatever happened to the Will Ferrell we saw in Anchorman? He was funny.

One star.

LAND OF THE LOST (PG)

Stars: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride

Director: Brad Silberling

One star

Screening at Greater Union Wollongong and Shellharbour, Hoyts Warrawong, Roxy Cinema Nowra