I’ve liked Ben Stiller ever since his starring role in the 1998 comedy There’s Something About Mary. Since then, I’ve seen just about every film he’s appeared in, and while I haven’t liked all of them, I usually find them at least tolerable because of his presence. So even though I wasn’t sold on the premise of Night at the Museum, I decided to see it anyway.
Stiller plays Larry Daley, a wannabe inventor who has trouble holding onto low-level jobs for any length of time. This has to stop, his ex-wife Erica (played by Kim Raver) urges, so that their son Nick (Jake Cherry) can begin to enjoy some stability in his life. That means Larry must find a job ASAP so that he doesn’t get evicted from yet another apartment, thus necessitating a move from Manhattan to Queens.
Larry goes to an employment agency and learns of a job opening as night watchman at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Before taking the job, he’s told that nobody ever lasts there. But Larry is determined to make the gig work for the sake of his son.
The current night crew consists of three watchmen who have been on the job for decades but are now being downsized. They are Cecil (Dick Van Dyke), Gus (Mickey Rooney), and Reginald (Bill Cobbs), and they part with just two pieces of advice for Larry. Don’t let anything out of the museum at night and read the manual.
Larry doesn’t know what could possibly happen in the museum at night, but he soon finds out. That’s because on his very first night, as soon as everyone else is out of the place, all the animals and people from the displays come to life. This includes monkeys and dinosaurs, as well as historical figures such as Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), and the Roman general Octavius (Steve Coogan). There are also a handful of anonymous, generic figures such as the cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson).
Larry reacts pretty coolly to the situation, all things considered. He does indeed consult the manual to handle some of the bigger problems and he eventually learns that everything comes to life because there’s an ancient curse on the museum. From there, the rest of the film deals with Larry’s interactions with the various characters and their efforts to reverse the curse.
My Reaction: I’ve heard that this movie was based on a book, but I’m not familiar with the original material, so all I have to go on is what I saw on the screen. I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with Night at the Museum. While there were a few funny — or at least amusing — parts, I found the whole to be pretty boring. I thought this would be more of a family film, but while it started out that way (with Larry wanting to provide stability for his son), that relationship was barely addressed later on.
Even Stiller’s involvement couldn’t make this movie interesting or funny. I give Night at the Museum just 2 stars out of 5.
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