Night at the Museum: Movie Review

March 19, 2007 - This is a tale of two comedians, The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me and The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me Not, and how one night out of the dark and on an apparent lark the witless one convinced the other to join him in jumping the shark, resulting in the one with the wit getting bit. Did he die? Well, that remains to be seen, as has he, since the incident, but if Stiller's most recent output is any indication, The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me is as dead as HBO's Six Feet Under. To truly understand my theory you must first understand The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me Not, and the best way to do that is to take a look at his latest work, "Night at the Museum".

"Night at the Museum" stars Ben Stiller ("There's Something About Mary"), Dick Van Dyke ("Diagnosis Murder"), Mickey Rooney ("Breakfast at Tiffany's"), Bill Cobbs ("JAG"), Robin Williams ("Good Will Hunting"), and Carla Gugino ("Sin City"). It's "Jumanji" meets The History Channel. The story revolves around Larry Daley (Stiller), a divorced dad who takes a job as a night watchman at the Museum of Natural History to make ends meet as well as gain the stability required for him to remain involved in his son's (Jake Cherry ["Friends with Money"]) life. But he gets more than he bargained for when it's revealed that due to some magical mumbo jumbo, all the museum's exhibits come to life from sundown to sunup.

"Night at the Museum" comes off as kind of flat, being neither as funny or as adventurous as one would hope, but still, this simple, silly, good-hearted tale does make for good, wholesome family viewing (it's like a generic, live action version of a Pixar flick). That being said, it is apparent to anyone who views this film that the same thing that claimed the late, great, hilarious 1980s Eddie Murphy (must see: "Trading Places", "48 Hours", "Beverly Hills Cop", "Saturday Night Live", "Raw", "Delirious", "Coming to America"), and left us with the occasionally impressive (worth seeing: "The Golden Child", "Boomerang", "The Nutty Professor", "Dreamgirls", "Bowfinger", "Harlem Nights", "Beverly Hills Cop II"), but mostly mediocre (don't see: "A Vampire in Brooklyn", "Metro", "Another 48 Hours", "The Adventures of Pluto Nash", "Beverly Hills Cop III", "The Nutty Professor II") version of today has now taken aim at Ben Stiller. He's now entered the kiddie movie stage (forced to see by your kids: "Doctor Doolittle", "Daddy Daycare", "The Haunted Mansion"). It's not too late, Ben! I know the guy who gave us "Zoolander", "There's Something About Mary", "The Ben Stiller Show", et cetera is in there somewhere! He deserves better than this, and you know it! OK, "Night at the Museum" is not thaaat bad (it's not that good either). It's just soulless, with a paint by numbers feel to it. And it's sad, because there are a lot of normally funny people in it (Ricky Gervais ["The Office"], Steve Coogan ["Around the World in 80 Days"], Charlie Murphy ["Chappelle's Show"], Paul Rudd ["The 40-Year-Old Virgin"], Anne Meara ["Archie Bunker's Place"], Owen Wilson ["Wedding Crashers"], Brad Garrett ["Everybody Loves Raymond"]), but it appears they only showed up for a paycheck, or had little to no input, or both. Honestly, and this very well may be the case, it's like the filmmakers just sat down with a list of what their target audience likes and filmed what was on that list verbatim instead of actually writing a script with a solid story and/or using any creativity whatsoever. I know Hollywood's a business, and, therefore, making money's the name of the game, but it'd be nice if there were more Hal Ashby ("Harold and Maude", "Coming Home", "Shampoo") types out there, who valued creative integrity over bucks, and had the know how, grit, and guts to fight for what they believed in.

Sorry to go off on a tangent. "Night at the Museum" is an OK movie. I enjoyed watching it, for the most part, and it does what most movies are meant to: provide an entertaining escape. But it, unfortunately, also serves as a prime example of what most movies are today: good, with the potential to be a lot better. Do I recommend "Night at the Museum"? Well, that depends on your intentions. Basically, those in search of a wild night out on the town should probably steer clear of this flick, but those looking for a nice nightcap for the kids need look no further than "Night at the Museum".

Now, does that pretty much sum up The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me Not? Yep. Does it give any clues to the whereabouts of The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me? Nope. Does it establish The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me Not as cunning and the prime suspect in The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me's disappearance and possible murder? I think so. I mean, he had everything to gain, i.e., more mainstream success, fame, and fortune, and the smarts to appear in children's fare in order to throw off suspicion. Did he do it? Only time and laughter will tell, but, hopefully, and soon, The Ben Stiller Who Amuses Me will return to the fore alive and well.