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Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is a newly divorced father—jobless, rudderless, and struggling to get a
job to be able to support his son Nick (Jake Cherry). So as not to have to move to Queens, which will disappoint Nick, Larry takes the only job that he can, as a security
guard on graveyard shift at New York's Museum of Natural History. He inherits the museum's only copy of the instruction manual from the three guards about to retire, Cecil
(Dick Van Dyke), Reginald (Bill Cobbs) and Gus (Mickey Rooney), along with a mysterious piece of advice: "After dark, don't let anyone in---or out."
Larry soon sees why---on his first night he discovers that once the doors are locked and the sun goes down, all hell practically breaks loose. The Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton reanimates, as do the lions and all the African mammals, the Egyptian statues, Attila the Hun, Theodore Roosevelt, the little figurines in the dioramas, even the miniature trains. But alas, Dexter, the capuchin monkey, tears the instruction manual to piece.
It may not be the most original father-son bonding story ever told, nor the funniest
comedy-fantasy ever filmed, but Night at the Museum
wins hands down in the CGI department. It's both amusing and entertaining to see a T-rex skeleton, for instance, behaving like an overeager puppy and wanting to play "fetch" with a stunned Stiller. The Lilliputian diorama figurines tying Stiller down with his head on the railroad tracks while their equally tiny trains rams his head without as much as messing his hair is also comical. Stiller is his usual bumbling self here; his looks are perfect for the funny part, but can turn earnest when needed. The two screen veterans (Van Dyke and Cobbs) play their roles gamely and well, while the third veteran (Rooney), looking like a resurrected museum item himself, steals the scene from both Stiller and the capuchin monkey.
More sophisticated audiences might fall asleep from either exhaustion or boredom halfway through
the nigh at the museum for there are no witty gags or smart double-talk in this movie.
But as long as viewers know what to expect, it could be an enjoyable family movie: entertaining enough, clean enough, and very well-made technically, plus there's that worthy message of providing oneself against all odds. Even young children may watch this, but ready when they ask things like "How can the giant skeleton drink?
(Date Reviewed: 19 January 2007)
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