Ben Stiller film brings audience to life

To most people, spending time in a museum is a nightmare. Spending a night in one is unfathomable. And that’s without the exhibits coming to life. The movie “Night at the Museum,” starring Ben Stiller, hashes up such a scenario. While not the most original in plot or story, it is worth a look. It’s also a good way to brush up on history before the start of a new semester.

The movie is a mixture of “Jumanji” and “Gulliver’s Travels,” with the classic plot of a divorced father who is estranged from his son and is seeking redemption and ends up finding it in some supernatural way and everyone is happy. Except in this case that father doesn’t turn into Santa Claus. And Teddy Roosevelt has a thing for Sacajawea.

This is classic Ben Stiller at the top of his career. Instead of playing a lovable loser or an antic-filled psycho, he combines both characters to form Larry Daley. Larry is, no surprise here, a divorced dad whose failures in life are about to reduce his visits with his young son into every-other-weekend custody. In desperation, he seeks to turn his life around and accepts a job as a security guard at the New York Museum of Natural History. Watch your head on the way up the corporate ladder, Larry.

The old night watchmen, in the forms of Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs, warn Larry of the unique duties of the job as they head off to retirement. Of course Larry doesn’t believe them, then he changes his mind, then his friends think he’s crazy and finally he proves that he was right all along while saving the day.

The movie follows half a dozen sub-plots and then forgets them or quickly ties the loose ends together in very predictable ways. You will have probably seen a dozen movies exactly like this, and when the awkward father-son relationship is forgotten as the director decides to focus on the mayhem at the museum, it is a welcome relief. Everything turns out fine in the end anyway, but it’s simply too much fun watching Ben Stiller.

Stiller’s unique combination of antics, facial expressions and overreaction are perfect if you are already a Stiller fan. If you do not fall into that category, you may find his attempts corny or even pathetic. The hilarity of watching him get chased by a T-Rex, slapped by a monkey and hugged by Attila the Hun is proportional to how much you actually like him. Lots of the comedy is for children, but Ben Stiller carries it over to a more adult audience when he can.

The supporting cast also brings on the laughs. Mickey Rooney is hilarious as Gus, a grandpa midget with a Mike Tyson attitude. The head of the museum, naturally a stuck-up British guy, brings laughs as a boss who is anything but clear. Robin Williams brings the waxen Teddy Roosevelt to life on a scale that the former president would admire himself. He is not as funny as usual, but he is definitely in character and is definitely a peeping tom.

Other cast members are under- or over-utilized. A possible love interest of Larry is almost forgotten, missing the opportunity for some great date humor. Just think, Stiller trying to impress his girl while being hunted by Huns or any combination of disgruntled historical figures would be funny. Of course, there are the ex-wife, her new fiancé and the kid who is supposed to be in second grade but whose dialogue suggests he is Dr. Phil. They would all be better off being eaten by the T-Rex in the first five minutes.

Besides laughs, the computer graphics and sound are breathtaking, but that is to be expected in a production on this level. The movie is available in IMAX theaters, and the IMAX format would definitely add to the thrills.

The computer animation is worth a look; the comedy is hit or miss; the plot is a mess; the history is atrocious; overall the movie is for kids. But if you’re a Ben Stiller fan, you may be enough of a kid anyway to have some good laughs at a surprisingly fun movie.

Grade: C+