Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney. Comedy/adventure. Directed by Shawn Levy.
FILM SYNOPSIS: Good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) accepts what appears to be a menial job as a graveyard-shift night watchman at a museum of natural history. But during Larry’s watch, something extraordinary happens: the museum’s exhibits magically come to life. A fearsome T-Rex insists on a game of fetch (with one of his own skeleton bones); Mayans, Roman gladiators, and cowboys emerge from their dioramas to wage epic battles; and a wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt gives Larry important advice while harboring a crush for an Indian princess. As things spiral out of control, Larry must find a way to manage the magic and stop a nefarious plot to steal that magic.
PREVIEW REVIEW: I kept thinking, this is a very strange movie. Not only do these people and creatures come to life at night, but they are wax figures. How do wax figures come to life? You see, while I try to keep my pragmatism in check when reviewing movies, that pragmatism only goes so far. Here’s Teddy Roosevelt giving our put-upon hero life lessons, when suddenly he announces he was made in a wax works factory. So, it’s silly business. Then – and I won’t give it away – but I don’t get the thinking of the thieves. Their reasoning seemed too manufactured, too forced, much like a great deal of the film’s humor.
Okay, there’s the Grinch side of me. It’s not a film I’d watch again, but I was listening to fellow film watchers as they exited and their reactions were positive. It was lighthearted, exciting, fresh and clean. It was a film parents could view with kids. And although it has lots of chase scenes, the filmmakers are careful to handle the material with a PG rating in mind. And I’ll give you this: Mr. Stiller proves he can hold a comedy together without being crude or excessive. And Robin Williams makes a bully Teddy Roosevelt. He seems to even revere the 26th President. You think he knows that Roosevelt was a Republican?
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
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