Night at the Museum

Every year we end up taking my father to see a movie for his birthday, and this year, he chose Ben Stiller's newest comedy, Night at the Museum, for his birthday movie. (A nice break from 3 straight years of Lord of the Rings, I might add.) At first, I didn't quite realize that it was being marketed as a kids' movie. I say that largely because of the casting, because when I think of Ben Stiller, I frequently think of such lowbrow comedies as There's Something About Mary, Dodgeball, Starsky and Hutch—not exactly what I'd associate with family fun and/or "for the kids." But if Night at the Museum serves as any kind of benchmark for Ben Stiller's career, then I'd have to say that this comedic actor can work well in the family fun genre, too.

The story of Night at the Museum is pretty straightforward. Ben Stiller gets a job as the night watchman at the Natural History Museum in New York—a job he desperately needs because he's divorced, he can't hold down a job, and he wants very much to maintain a good relationship with his young son. So to make ends meet, he accepts this job thinking it's going to be a breeze (as evidenced not just by his sleeping on the job the first night, but by his hilarious rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" over the PA system). Little does he know that, once the sun goes down, all the exhibits in the museum come to life, courtesy of an ancient Egyptian tablet that's been on display at the museum for over 50 years. Naturally, chaos ensues when he first discovers this, and we're treated to an outrageous and hilarious array scenes: Ben playing fetch with a T-Rex skeleton, frantically trying to outwit a monkey who keeps stealing his keys, getting tied down à la Gulliver’s Travels by pint-sized cowboys who want to run him down with a train (a toy train, naturally), and trying to broker peace between the miniature cowboys and the miniature Roman gladiators. And as we learn, the night watchman's real job isn't so much to patrol the museum as a security guard, but to keep all the live animal and people exhibits inside the museum during the night hours . . . for if any go outside and remain outside come daylight, then that exhibit turns to dust.

Making an (uncredited) guest appearance is fellow Frat Pack buddy Owen Wilson, in the role of the hot-shot yet sensitive cowboy leader, as well as a masterful appearance by Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt. Carla Gugino (we may remember her from a lusciously smokin' cameo in Sin City) filled the requisite love interest role, and I was quite surprised—but at the same time delighted!—to see screen legends Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney appear in memorable supporting roles. I will admit, at first this made me uneasy, because all too often you see big-name actors filling in roles that are so transparent and paper-thin that they become thankless and trite, there only for their stardom and name. Thankfully the roles filled by Mr. Van Dyke and Rooney weren't those; theirs were respectably fleshed out, worth every minute of their screen time. As I said earlier, when I saw their names roll in the opening credits, I was really surprised, because both men have to be well into their 80s! But even from the very first appearance of Dick Van Dyke, when he's crouched down at the door and mocking creaky old-man deafness, you know deep down that the man's still got it, that he can still play his unique comedy.

Naturally, to watch a fanciful movie like this, you have to submit your beliefs to suspension. Because if you can't, you obviously won't like Night at the Museum. But if you can, you're in for a wonderful ride. I mean, how often do you see little miniatures come to life and try to deflate all the air from your van's tires? Though in all seriousness, the way that scene was filmed lent perfectly to the comedy of that scene. Because what you have is Owen Wilson's sensitive cowboy along with Octavius Caesar (I can't recall the actor's name) and several other miniature people sticking a miniature harpoon into the air-pressure valve of a tire, and the special effects present the escaping air as a gale-force wind gust that threatens to blow away each of the miniatures—but then the camera pulls back to about 20 feet away from the van, and all you hear is the tiny hiss of air being released from the tires. Compare, contrast; for just that mere change in dimensions makes this scene hilarious. And how often do you see a comedian like Ben Stiller turn into a psychologist and get right to the root of Genghis Khan's personal anguish?

I think it was Robin Williams who ended up stealing the show, though. His rendition of Teddy Roosevelt, while still embodying the all-encompassing personality of the former prez, was surprisingly sensitive—especially when we discover that he's been pining away for the Sacajawea exhibit for over 50 years. (Though after seeing Arsenic and Old Lace, I think it's safe to say that nobody can utter Teddy's trademark line, "Bully!" quite like John Alexander can.) Williams's Teddy Roosevelt served as a kind of father-figure, though, a leader for Ben Stiller not so much to follow but to learn from, to be guided and inspired by. For in the end, it was he who recognized Ben Stiller as the "great man" he was to become.

In the end, Night at the Museum impressed me more than I had expected it to, and I give it an 8 out of 10. For a lighthearted family comedy, it succeeds quite well, and provides a good stepping stone for Ben Stiller as a comedic actor.