Film Muser Rating : 2 / 5
Release Date : December 22, 2006
Running Time : 108 minutes
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Night at the Museum is a family comedy adventure starring Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a divorced father who’s been having a difficult time holding down a steady job. In order to provide a more stable environment for his son who he has partial custody of, Larry reluctantly accepts a job as the night watchmen at the Museum of Natural History in New York city. What sounds like a boring job turns out to be quite the opposite as all of the exhibits come to life after hours due to an ancient Egyptian curse that has been placed on a mummy in the museum. Larry has the daunting task of trying to keep order in the museum as animals, soldiers, explorers, and cavemen run a muck, but it may also hold the key to gaining the trust and respect of his son.

Night at the Museum Starring Ben Stiller

Even though I understand that this is a family movie, I generally did not enjoy Night at the Museum. It seems like we’re seeing the story of a divorced dad trying to get back into his son’s life all of the time now, and it was touching the first twenty times, but now it’s just overdone. Putting the story aside, I was pretty sure I was going to some good chuckles as I watched this movie because I tend to like the humour of Ben Stiller. Sadly this wasn’t the case and I could probably count the number of times a laughed on one hand.

I was also looking forward to seeing Owen Wilson in this film, but his role was fairly menial, playing Jedediah, a cowboy tasked with building a railway in the American old west. I probably enjoyed the scenes he was in the most as his role was your basic Owen Wilson performance we’ve seen in other films. Robin Williams plays Teddy Roosevelt and also has a minor role. His performance if fairly tame, and we don’t get the over-the-top comedy we’re used to seeing from him. Jake Cherry plays Larry’s son, but his performance is extremely weak, and made me cringe during a number of his scenes.

This film is heavily effects driven, and they are pretty solid for the most part. It seems as though the animals that we are used to, like lions and monkeys, usually come off as “fake”, but this time around they did a really good job. The lions in particular look quite realistic. The effects that included miniature characters like Jedediah were the only ones that looked questionable as they interacted with Larry and other full-size characters.

This movie is definitely for children and family viewing. I’m sure kids will enjoy it and be thrilled with the visual effects and the simple and straightforward story. I may have enjoyed it more if I could have watched it with one of my nieces or nephews, but watching it alone just didn’t cut it. The idea is great, and I’m sure the book on which it is based would do the story much more justice.

Memorable Scene
There’s a scene where miniature Jedediah and Octavius of the Roman Empire are outside, releasing the air from the tires of a museum thief’s van. As the air rushes out of the tire, it creates a dangerous environment for them, and they are struggling for their lives. What’s funny in this scene is how it keeps cutting between a wide shot where you can just hear the hiss of the air being released (which is pretty non-threatening) to a tight shot where you see the men fighting to finish their mission. Quite amusing.