by Steve Dimatteo

Created on: June 30, 2007   Last Updated: July 01, 2007

I really wanted to love Night at the Museum', especially after hearing about who was involved. With such an all-star cast, including the talents of Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Owen Wilson and so on, it was hard not to go into this with excitement and anticipation for something great. I mean, Paul Rudd and Charlie Murphy were in this for crying out loud! Plus, the constant exposure they gave to the dinosaur chasing Ben Stiller in the trailers was great because that really made me want to see it. Those guys are sneaky. I entered the movie with plenty of built-up pleasure just waiting to burst out and I receiveda large plop of mediocrity on my metaphorical plate.

The plot was cool, I will admit. It goes a little something like this: Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is not the greatest father in the world, he's going through a divorce, and he doesn't have a job. In order to make sure his son still thinks he's "cool" or whatever (although I'm fairly certain he needed to pay the bills too), Larry gets a job as the night watchmen of the Natural History Museum in New York City.

Surprisingly, what was not in the job description was the fact that everything in the museum comes alive at night. The zaniness of the movie is supposed to ensue from this point forward, and it does to an extent. For fans of Ben Stiller, watching him doing his patented "I'm confused at your ridiculous statement, so I will stutter and look around in a funny way" routine is satisfying. Robin Williams also gives a great performance (the best in the movie in my opinion) as Teddy Roosevelt, but he is rarely poor in any movie. It could have been a lot crazier in that museum, but it wasn't that bad.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was a family film, so I knew I would be subjected to family-friendly material. As far as that goes, Night at the Museum' actually does pretty well. The plot takes some twists and turns that one may not see coming (possibly to avoid some of the gaping plot holesright - family film, family film) so that adds to the entertainment value. It is not your average family film; parents will actually not mind being subjected to this movie. It was a smart tactic to get so much talent on board for this one, because adults will actually be able to withstand the movie. Againvery sneaky, crafty studio heads.

This is no masterpiece, nor is it great by any stretch of the imagination. Ben Stiller is really going along with the flow in this one. It's not that his acting is poor, because that is not it. He just doesn't need to stretch his acting abilities too far in this one. That goes for just about everybody involved in Night at the Museum': it's a journey into family-film mediocrity, which includes a cool CGI T-Rex that I wish was used more.

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