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Larry is a dreamer that can't seem to hold down a job or an apartment. But when his ex-wife threatens to stop him seeing their son, he decides to buckle down and get a real job. So he applies for the position of night watchman at New York's Museum of Natural History. But nothing prepares him for the fact that after sundown, everything in the museum comes to life. Soon Larry's having to deal with rivalries between Romans and cowboys, dummies that keep re-enacting the American Civil War, a mischievous capuchin monkey and a T-Rex that knows why it's at the top of the food chain. But with only a waxwork of US President Teddy Roosevelt to ask for help, can he bring things under control and save his job?
I'm not a great fan of director Shawn Levy, after the abomination that was "The Pink Panther" remake and this film doesn't really bring him up in my estimations. Though a serviceable family movie, it doesn't have the requisite sense of wonder to make it a great one. Despite an ordinary Joe finding himself in extraordinary circumstances, Larry accepts the bizarre happenings too readily and you never get a real sense of how freaked out he could be. This is down to Levy's timing; he signposts everything too early - lingering on various museum displays so you aren't surprised when things happen there. Too many exhibits come to life at the same time, so you miss the slow build and the sense of the miraculous is lost. There is plenty of background action, but he doesn't capitalise on it for throw-away sight gags and allows continuity errors to sneak in. Watch out for Larry's desk after it has been smashed to pieces - it seems to have magically reassembled itself. He indulges his
star too much, letting jokes go on too long so they lose their punch and make the film drag. With a firmer hand in the editing suite, the movie could have been a lot tighter, funnier and fifteen minutes shorter. There isn't enough in it to warrant its hundred-and-eight minute running time.
And despite having the master of angry everymen at his disposal, the film is surprisingly soft-hearted, so much so that it is completely lacking in gumption. The harsh pratfalls and potential for adult friendly asides are squandered as the film is turned into a trite little display of family values moralising. It picks up in the final twenty minutes as the exhibits go rampaging across New York, but by then it's too late. In an attempt to speed things along, Levy uses an excess of montages. So instead of Larry slowly learning to handle the exhibits, he resolves almost all the problems in one short montage. This makes his transformation from quitter to lateral thinker and hard worker too swift. It's as though the director doesn't recognise his characters as people, only the means to an end, allowing them to remain little more than stooges to his slapstick. For much of the movie, the special effects and not the humans reacting to them are the stars of the show. The CGI dinosaur and the miniaturised civilisations are good for a few laughs in particular and the giant Egyptian statues are scary enough to give kids a few thrills.
Actors-turned-screenwriters Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon don't have the most illustrious of back catalogues, having penned the scripts for, among others "The Pacifier" and the dreadful English-language "Taxi" remake. Though their films may work as popcorn entertainment for the most undemanding audiences, they don't stand up to scrutiny. They are the kind of movies that feel like filmmaking by numbers. Because they are clearly writing to a template everything feels derivative. The daydreaming everyman hero that must wake up and take responsibility for his son has been seen a hundred times before. The story feels like a cross between "The Indian in the Cupboard" and "One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing". But the biggest mistake comes in twisting the potentially madcap shenanigans of the museum exhibits into an anodyne illustration of conservative morals that won't frighten the folks in the backwaters of Middle America. So we are bludgeoned with the messages that you should never give up, that teamwork is important, that kids need their fathers and those fathers need to be responsible and that had someone just given Attila the Hun a few more hugs, he wouldn't have raped, murdered and pillaged his way across half the world. In fact all this is so prevalent that the subplot involving the theft of the gold tablet that brings the exhibits to life almost feels like an afterthought, though not as much as Larry's abortive romance with museum worker Rebecca. The jokes are old hat; Larry is taken hostage like Gulliver by the Lilliputians and the T-Rex acts like a puppy. The pacing stutters throughout and the final quarter of the film is spent hurriedly trying to tie up all the loose ends. A few more random characters and a perplexing disco ending are also thrown in. There's no verve to the dialogue and aside from the suggestion that Roman Centurion Octavius and cowboy Jedediah are having a "Brokeback Mountain" affair ("I ain't quitting you!"), there are few memorable lines.
Leader of the Frat Pack and Hollywood's favourite funny-man Ben Stiller is adept at playing comic everyman figures. But he's at his best with character comedy, which is a shame in many respects with the under-written part of Larry, who has very little in the way of personality. Despite his decent timing, many of the jokes fall flat. I think this is mainly because he rarely has anyone to bounce off and when he does, he is often outshone by his co-star.
Ricky Gervais may be a fine writer, but I've come to the conclusion that he can't act. Yes, he can play David Brent, but I think that's because he's a heightened version of himself. He struggles on the big screen with someone else's words in his mouth, as with the part of museum curator Mr McPhee. He is too naturalistic in an artificial world and this jars with everyone else's acting style. His continual use of incomplete sentences feels like an affectation rather than a character tic.
There's a fairly solid supporting cast on show, with Steve Coogan enjoying the chance to camp it up as Roman centurion Octavius and Owen Wilson phoning in his role as miniature cowboy Jedediah. Robin Williams has nice timing as Teddy Roosevelt and sustains the character well. Carla Gugino continues her career theme of always being the bridesmaid as virtually invisible love interest Rebecca. The old guard is represented by Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. Despite being in his seventies and having officially retired from acting, Van Dyke gives the young pups a run for their money, while Rooney proves why he should have stayed retired with his iffy timing.
The score by Alan Silvestri is a full-blooded, big, swooping body of music. The magical scenario is first suggested by the tinkling music box flourishes that accompany the opening. Flutes and harps give the proceedings a playful atmosphere, while the museum is characterised by magical themes with plenty of twinkling chimes and sleigh bells and additional woodwinds. The brass section kicks in whenever something noteworthy is about to occur and of course when Larry inevitably triumphs. It's a good score, but possibly more than the film deserves.
"Night at the Museum" is a fun family film that has all the requisite elements to delight kids but leans too heavily on special effects to make the audience gawp, without giving it enough heart to endear on its own terms. It will keep the little folk happy, but it's unlikely to satisfy adult viewers in the same way. Many of the performances feel half-hearted, it can seem repetitious because of the nature of the magic and it isn't quite snappy enough. Overall, it's not a film I'd re-watch.
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I absolutely loved this. And I'm 18 hehe. I particuarly liked the hidden laughs, the bits you'd only find funny if you knew a little history. Great review mind! - Ten
x-staz-x 21.02.2007 15:10
good review. i wanted 2 see this film as soon as i saw it advertise. staz x
tazzywazzy 21.02.2007 15:06
great review, will probably give this film a miss....my boyfriend worked as a production assistant on the mcfly music vid that features at the end of this film! xxx
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![Night At The Museum (2 Disc Special Edition) [2006] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78098156.jpg "Night At The Museum (2 Disc Special Edition) [2006] [DVD]")
Feb 20th, 2007
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