Night At The Museum: Movie Review

After Shawn Levy's woeful Pink Panther remake, he has redeemed himself, kind of. Night at the Museum has Ben Stiller playing a divorced dad forced to drop his fanciful ideas and taking a 'bog standard' museum security guard job in order to pay his rent, and prevent his son from feeling unsettled. Bog standard is what some feel about this movie but I think it rises above that label.

It does have a very familiar feel to it; Ben Stiller does what Ben Stiller does, and there is Ricky Gervais playing David Brent. Actually he's playing Dr.McPhee, the museum director but he doesn't seem to be able to play many characters. The titular museum is the Museum of Natural History, which serves as an great backdrop of characters and times, providing anachronistic answers to questions such as: what would a caveman do with a fire extinguisher?

What is really surprising is the appearance of Dick Van Dyke. My God, he's over 80 and still quite sprightly! He completes the trio of Bill Cobbs, and Mickey Rooney (5 years older than Van Dyke), the outgoing museum guards.

Owen Wilson and Steve Cougan are excellent even thought they have very small roles, and are at each others throats for most of the movie.

There is a lovely Central park scene which gives a Christmassy feeling, and a chance to get out of the museum for a while. The Museum of Natural History is a great place to visit, and this isn't too bad either.It's amiable enough, not a brilliant idea, but the performances make it worthwhile especially Cougan and Owen's tiny tiffs.