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Night in Museum Review
BY MAGGIE SCOTT
At the Museum of Natural History on New York’s upper west side, history may be coming alive after closing time. In Night in the Museum—the movie that tells the fanciful tale of statues, mounted animals, a T. Rex skeleton and the wax people of historical dioramas cavorting through the halls of this prestigious institution— is expiring by the time Larry (Ben Stiller), the new night guard, proves he’s not a quitter.
Turning the musty museum into a party house doesn’t happen with a few kegs of beer and some stripper poles.
The transformation comes courtesy of an Egyptian tablet, whose power and golden properties are not lost on Cecil (Dick Van Dyke), a spry, but aged, guard whose retirement benefits are about to kick in.
Larry is replacing Cecil and two of his cohorts, and they see the tablet as their golden parachute. Swiping it should be a cinch while Larry is dealing with the evenings’ revelers.
Up until now, “instability” has been Larry’s middle name. He’s had a new job and apartment practically every month, while his ex-wife is providing their son Nick with the security of life with a bond trader. Larry realizes he’s got to score some pride points with his son, before it’s too late. So he takes the $11.50-an-hour museum job and steps into the wildest adventure of his life.
Not much has prepared Larry for dealing with a dinosaur playing fetch with a femur bone; tiny Roman soldiers catapulting flaming stones at his head; Mayan warriors blowing darts at his body; Attila the Hun’s men trying to tear him limb from limb; cavemen eating fire extinguisher foam after setting fire to their exhibit case with Larry’s cigarette lighter; or Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) getting off his horse and talking about the crush he has on Sacagawea.
Sensing that Larry is about to cut and run, Roosevelt gives him the old “some men are born with greatness, others have greatness thrust upon them” speech and challenges Larry to stay the course and save the special nightly revelries.
If he does, that cute museum docent (Carla Gugino) who’s working on a dissertation on Sacagawea might see how great the security guard with the insecurity complex really is. And, it could boost museum memberships.
The chief strike against this child-friendly adaptation of the Milan Trenc novel is the chintzy special effects and Stiller’s been-there, done-that goofiness. A Twentieth Century Fox release; rated PG.
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