Ferrell isn’t ‘Lost’ in this CG-generated land

Since the beginning of performance art, material has been shaped for particular talents. Shakespeare had his favorite actors , as did Gene Roddenberry , and if these two writer/producers can be seen as the polarized edges of an extreme, then it follows that everyone in between has followed the same fashion.

Take Will Ferrell. Since the days he was on “Saturday Night Live,” Ferrell has specialized in her own personal brand of clownish comedy. Whether he was a cheerleader, a quiz-show host or a James Lipton impersonator , Ferrell worked hard for the laughter.

Just as he’s continued doing so in movies. And for the most part, those movies have been hits, from his bit parts in films such as “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” to “Zoolander,” to his starring turns in such films as “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” to “Blades of Glory.”

In this latest film, a variation on the 1970s-era television series “Land of the Lost” directed by Brad Silberling, Ferrell doesn’t play a character as much as fit his trademark character to suit the requirements of the film. He is Dr. Rick Marshall, a discredited scientist whose belief in time warps has gotten him laughed out of the business.

Only he is onto to something. And with the aid of a young British scientist named Holly (Anne Friel), he enlists the help of the owner of a lame desert-set theme park (Danny McBride) to prove his outlandish theories.

Of course those theories are correct, leading the trio to the place where past, present and future conjoin, where dinosaurs live with lizard people and monkey people where all are worried by mosquitoes as big as flying Chihuahuas. Only now our power trio is faced with the task of getting back home so that Dr. Rick can make Matt Lauer eat his words.

The film is funny, as you might imagine, filled as it is with computer-generated effects that just a few years ago would have been seen as groundbreaking. Your appreciation of the film, though, is bound to be amplified if you’re a Ferrell fan. His Dr. Rick is a visionary with the heart of a true loser, a guy whose preening arrogance is matched only by his willingness to run screaming like a child as well as embrace a world defined both by show tunes and overeating.

This new “Land of the Lost” might have worked with some other comic at the center. In that past that might have included Jerry Lewis or Gene Wilder. Today, though, Will Ferrell is the go-to guy.

If this were an episode of “SNL,” Ferrell’s own character might have this to say:

“Will, Will, he’s our guy,
he eats cake and pecan pie.
He’s no error, he’s no gaffe!
He just makes us laugh, laugh, laugh!”

Below: Will Ferrell stars in “Land of the Lost.”