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Directed by :
Shawn Levy
Writing credits (WGA) : Ben
Garant (screenplay) & Thomas Lennon
(screenplay)
Cast : Ben Stiller as Larry Daley
, Carla Gugino as Rebecca
Trivia : 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.
 Review
: With a cast featuring Ben Stiller,
Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Ricky
Gervais, one has a right to expect
something amusing from Night at the
Museum. Oddly, not only is the movie
unfunny, but it rarely tries for laughs.
The only jokes in the production belong
to Ben Stiller, and they fail at least
as often as they work. Night at the
Museum isn't just not funny, it's not
fun. There's some impressive computer
animation, to be sure, but it's eye
candy, and a steady diet of any candy
becomes nauseating after a while. Night
at the Museum fails to offer much in the
way of sustained entertainment unless
the stagnant story of a loser Dad
redeeming himself in his son's eyes is
likely to cause paroxysms of delight.
When he's in desperate need of a job,
Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) takes the only
one available to him: night watchman at
New York's Museum of Natural History.
It's not something he's interested in,
but he needs the money to pay the rent
so he can keep seeing his son, Nick
(Jake Cherry). Larry doesn't know much
about history so, in his first day at
the museum, he follows a tour group led
by pretty guide Rebecca (Carla Gugino),
hoping to pick up a few facts. He is
introduced to the unpleasant and
uncompromising museum director, Mr.
McPhee (Ricky Gervais). Finally, his
three predecessors (Dick Van Dyke,
Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs) provide him
with an instruction manual and a number
to call if things get out of hand.
Eventually, Larry is all alone in the
museum and strange things start to
happen, like skeletons and wax statues
coming to life. Soon, he's conversing
with Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams),
getting tied up by a miniature Wild West
hotshot (Owen Wilson), and fleeing from
Atilla the Hun.
 Night
at the Museum is put together like a
live-action cartoon. At times, it feels
like Jumanji (the participation of Robin
Williams enhances the sense of déjà vu)
and there are some obvious steals from
Gulliver's Travels. What's missing,
however, is a sense of magic. The
experience of walking through a natural
history museum during operating hours
can be amazing - how much more
incredible would it be at night with
exhibits coming alive? Yet director
Shawn Levy fails to turn this into
anything more significant than a
playground in which his animators can
have fun. Night at the Museum lacks both
heart and soul. Levy's previous credits
say a lot about his ability as a
filmmaker - he was responsible for both
the Cheaper by the Dozen and Pink
Panther remakes. I believe the act of
forcing someone to watch either has been
outlawed by the Geneva Convention.
It might be fair to give Ben Stiller an
"A" for effort, but to call what he does
in this movie "acting" is a misnomer. He
does a lot of running around,
occasionally falling down or bumping
into things. His "romance" with Carla
Gugino passes so quickly that if you
blink, you'll miss it. (That statement
applies to Gugino's character in general
- wonder how much of her ended up on the
cutting room floor?) Owen Wilson and
Robin Williams have just enough screen
time to avoid "cameo" status, although
the same cannot be said of Ricky Gervais.
I have to admit it was nice to see the
three old codgers (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey
Rooney, Bill Cobbs). I'm sure some
audience members will be surprised to
learn that all three are still alive.
(Then again, most viewers will be too
young to know who they are.)
 Night
at the Museum will play a lot better to
children than adults. I suppose there's
a upside to that. Families can attend
the movie together. Kids can watch
enraptured as a T-Rex skeleton races
around the museum playing fetch and
Atilla the Hun gets in touch with his
feminine side while Mom and Dad can take
a nap. This is the kind of movie where
you can sleep through 2/3 of it and
never feel like you missed anything,
since there's no coherent plot to speak
of. Because the film looks impressive,
it's worth seeking out on an I-MAX
screen. Better yet, don't seek it out at
all and look for something with the
capability of entertaining a viewer over
the age of 10.
MEDIA PARTNER
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