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Night at the Museum
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Starring: Ben Stiller
Genre:
Comedy/Fantasy
Run Time: 108
min.
Release Date:
December 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Looking for a
fantasy-filled escapist flick? You’d be hard-pressed to find a funnier
one this holiday season than NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM.
Initial concerns of a Jumanji rip-off are quickly put to rest as we
learn that the results of inanimate things coming to life at a history
museum are the result of an Egyptian tablet with supernatural powers.
The fun comes when Larry Daley (Ben Stiller, Starsky and Hutch), a
down-on-his-luck father who has difficulty holding down a full-time job
while worrying about losing his pre-teen son to his ex-wife’s new beau,
picks up the improbable job of night-guard at the natural history
museum. He meets up with the old guards played by Dick Van Dyke, Mickey
Rooney, and Bill Cobbs, as they are supposedly being pushed out of their
jobs in favor of a leaner staff.
Larry is obviously uninformed and unprepared for what happens to the
museum when night falls, but quickly learns the ropes. Skeletal T-Rex is
simply a puppy who loves to chase his own bones. But the African monkey
is a kleptomaniac that absconds with Larry’s keys, instructions, and
other items, making his job a living nightmare. Then there’s the big
lions and the miniature cowboys and gladiators that battle all the time
in favor of expanding their empires. And let’s not forget Attila the Hun
who’s a misunderstood heathen that benefits from Larry’s psychoanalysis.
While Larry battles to save his job (not to mention his very life), he
also struggles to maintain a working relationship with his son Nick
(Jake Cherry, Friends With Money) who’s losing faith in his father’s
ability to be an upstanding guy with permanent employment and a
permanent address.
Thanks to Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams in a much more tempered role
than previously seen), Larry learns to risk everything in order to save
not only his job, but the fate of everyone in the museum and the
financial status of the museum itself.
The fun parts are always whenever Stiller interacts with the inanimate
creatures as they pop to life. His psychoanalysis of Attila the Hun is
one of the outstanding moments, as is his quest to find out who the
strange looking guy is who wanders the halls (we later learn that it’s
Christopher Columbus). Mickey Rooney has little screen time but makes
the most of it in hilarious fashion as he cold-cocks Stiller. And
watching Dick Van Dyke do roundhouse kicks to Stiller’s face is
something to marvel and laugh at, making one wonder how Van Dyke’s hips
don’t dislocate.
Although not a very thought-provoking film, Night at the Museum will
certainly entertain. You won’t learn anything, and the plot is straight
out of a pat Hollywood script (with happy endings for everyone). But
with the holiday season nearly passed, it’s a nice remembrance that
sometimes fantasies do come true.
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Image from Night at the
Museum
DVD cost: $24.99
Purchase:
Barnes and Noble
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Primary filming was set to
take place in Montreal, but Ben Stiller was reportedly unhappy about
working there, and is fond of Vancouver, hence prompting a move to BC.
Movie Quote: "Don't
let anything in or out."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Night at the Museum
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