Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum is a 2006 family comedy, based on the children’s book of the same name by Milan Trench. The film includes many comedy stars, including Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Mickey Rooney and Dick Van Dyke. This use of comic actors in the lead roles makes the film fun and light-hearted. A real mistake would be to take Night at the Museum the least bit seriously.

The film is a hybrid of adventure, fantasy and comedy. The story is rather simple, too, making it easy to follow for youngsters and fun for the whole family. Ben Stiller plays Larry Daley, a divorced father trying to impress his son. He ends up getting a job at a museum as a night watchman, taking over from three elderly night watchmen played by Van Dyke, Rooney and Bill Cobbs. The scenes involving Rooney, Van Dyke, Cobbs and Stiller are hilarious and will certainly please older viewers of the film, especially when Van Dyke’s actual role is revealed as the film progresses. He is truly a delight to watch.

Ben Stiller is also lots of fun here, taking on a few adventure sequences with delightful charm and awkward wit. The film’s effects are decent enough, but it is the strength of its comic leads that make it work. Watch for Ricky Gervais as the museum’s director, Dr. McPhee. His scenes are true comic brilliance, as expected. Gervais’ interactions with Stiller are tremendously cumbersome and stilted, with carefully crafted dialogue meant to exhibit the two comedic styles.

The film was received rather poorly by most film critics, citing a lack of continuance and a boatload of errors as some of the biggest offenses to this film. That criticism is correct, as there are a great number of plot errors throughout the film that have the potential to derail the film. I chose to, however, put the film in context (as I always do) and I reviewed it as a family film. That’s not to say I’ve lowered the bar significantly, but I do believe that a family film such as Night at the Museum has a certain demographic and style it is aiming for. What makes the film good or bad, therefore, is whether or not the film hits its mark.

I’d say Night at the Museum does, indeed, hit its mark. The comedy is broad and stylized, ranging from slapstick to witty dialogue. The use of broad comedic talents make the film continuously interesting and well-paced, as Stiller runs around the museum not only adapting to various CGI creatures but also to various comedic situations. At times, he feels like the ringleader in a circus as he tries to conduct all of the different energies in the film. The film also generates interest in history to a certain degree and, while containing a few historical errors as almost all films do, generates a good deal of buzz around museums in general. In fact, the New York American Museum of Natural History enjoyed a resurgence because of the film.

Let’s face facts: Night at the Museum isn’t going to win any awards and it isn’t going to please most critics. It is, however, a contextually enjoyable film for the whole family or for a group of friends looking for a bit of fun at the movies. It won’t change your life, but it doesn’t set out to do that. Night at the Museum is entertaining, funny, exciting and impressive. If you can check your brain at the door and enjoy yourself, you’ll have a good time at the movies. If you’re going to use Night at the Museum for a guide to history continuity and accuracy, you’re out to lunch.

Trailer: