Night at the Museum stars Ben Stiller and Robin Williams in a family adventure comedy that combines elements of Jumanji with Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan also appear in supporting roles. This film is based on the popular children’s book by Milan Trenc.

Ben Stiller plays a divorced father of a wonderful little boy. Stiller’s character is a good guy who cares about his son, but he just can’t hold down a job. He’s always coming up with business ventures that his ex-wife refers to as schemes, but he says they don’t work out because ‘the technology hasn’t caught up with my idea’. In other words, his ideas are too far-fetched and unrealistic. Faced with the prospect of disappointing his son again, Stiller is forced to accept a job as the night watchman for the New York Museum of Natural History.

Some museums may claim that inside their walls, history comes alive. In this museum, history literally does come alive. As soon as the doors are locked and all the visitors are out, every exhibit, ranging from cavemen to dinosaur bones and stuffed animals, all come alive and roam the museum. It all happens for a reason, but I won’t tell you what that reason is because you need to see the movie to find out.

Of course, this movie isn’t just about Ben Stiller’s character dealing with the craziness of a bunch of historical figures giving him a hard time. There’s a subplot about someone trying to steal the thing that brings these stuffed animals and wax figures to life, and Stiller finds himself in the middle of a big juggling act. You see, if any of the people or things inside the museum are caught outside at dawn, they’ll turn to dust. No, they aren’t vampires.

I really enjoyed this movie even though it was a little more childish than I expected. There’s no profanity and the violence is mostly slapstick, though there is a good bit of violent behavior. Many of the historical figures include soldiers from different wars, and they fight each other at night. Small children might be a little distressed by some of the faceless mannequins dressed as Civil Wars soldiers.

Ben Stiller has made a career of playing regular guys thrust into situations where they end up practically drowning in burdens. He was overwhelmed by his bride’s family in the Meet the Parents movies just like he was caught up in a love game in Something About Mary. Stiller was perfect for this role.

Besides Stiller’s great performance, what made this movie work so well were all the cameos and supporting role. Robin Williams is brilliant as a younger Teddy Roosevelt, and of course he steals all his scenes. Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan are hilarious as a cowboy and a Roman soldier who don’t get along so well. Ricky Gervais (The Office) is funny as the museum manager who can’t ever complete an analogy. Even Stiller’s own mother has a cameo. Finally, there’s Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs as the former guards who pass the torch down to Stiller as they go into retirement.

This movie was directed by Yale graduate Shawn Levy, who previously did The Pink Panther and Cheaper by the Dozen. He’s no stranger to family-oriented comedies and knows how to balance the movie so that parents can enjoy it along with their kids. Even though some parts of this movie bordered on being too silly, the good outweighed the bad. Screenwriting credits go to Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, both of whom work on the TV show Reno 911.

Night at the Museum was the number one box office movie during its opening weekend, and that’s because it combines big name stars with a good story that can be enjoyed by the whole family. I keep hearing so much in the news about how much money all these movies are losing and the reason is because the big money is in stuff like this. Movies that can be enjoyed by adults and kids alike, such as the Star Wars or Harry Potter or Indiana Jones series, are money in the bank.


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8