In Night at the Museum, Ben Stiller finds that after hours at the Museum of Natural History is not as sedate as you would imagine since thanks to a magical Egyptian tablet there’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on at night.
Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is a fellow that can’t seem to hold down a job and his ideas at making money seem to fall through. His son Nick (Jake Cherry) has finally tired of his dad’s constant job and apartment shifting and says that enough is enough. The desperate Larry goes to an employment agency (the agent being Stiller’s real life mom Anne Meara) and is sent to the Museum of Natural History for a job as the night watchman. Seems that the museum has fallen on hard times and the three old-timer guards, Cecil (Dick Van Dyke), Gus (Mickey Rooney), and Reginald (Bill Cobbs), are being replaced by Larry.
The museum seems like a nice place to work with the nice docent Rebecca (Carla Gugino), who Larry is attracted to, and fussy museum director Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), but when the sun goes down it’s a different story. Every exhibit in the museum springs to life thanks to an ancient Egyptian tablet. So Larry is confronted with Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), the miniature roman solider Octavius (Steve Coogan) and cowboy Jebidiah (Owen Wilson), a mischievous monkey named Dexter, and an animated Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton.
A Night at the Museum is just a good time for the whole family. Ben Stiller plays a likeable everyman who just wants to look good in the eyes of his son and is having trouble doing so. He finds himself becoming a more organized and self assured man as he figures out ways to quiet his nighttime rabble as they rampage through the museum.
Those beasties fill the film with a nice selection of special effects to bring them to life. Robin Williams surprisingly a play Roosevelt rather restrained and brings believability to the character - as if he could play him in a straight biopic. In other words, he doesn’t do the standard Williams over-the-top riff in a Teddy Roosevelt costume (watch the special features for some of that).
It’s also good to see a trio of familiar faces as the guards that Larry finds himself replacing. It’s always good to see the legendary Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney and the equally legendary character actor Bill Cobbs. It’s always good to see these old pros in the saddle and they all have their moments to shine on the screen. It’s even a bit of a change for Van Dyke since he plays a character that he’s not used to playing.
Speaking of characters, the one that the kiddies will absolutely love is the devilish monkey Dexter (played by Crystal to give every actor their due) who torments Larry throughout the picture. The film did very well at the box office and it had no doubt to do with the family friendly nature of the film. It’s not exactly a classic, but an enjoyable, family film.
Night at the Museum is presented in separate anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and fullscreen editions. A two-disc special edition is also available. Disc 1 has two commentaries, one from writers Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon and the other from director Shawn Levy. If you go the single disc route you’ll be getting those commentaries but those that buy the two disc will get the following.
Disc two features all the special features divvied up into different sections. The Loading Dock features 17 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Levy. The Hall of Biodiversity features several featurettes. The first is the 6 minute “Brining the Museum to Life” which has interviews with Levy, visual effects supervisor (R&H) Dan Deleeuw, Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, and visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel. The 4 minute “Directing 101” has Levy hopping about the set portraying the various CGI creatures for Stiller.
There’s also a 5 minute “Blooper Reel” showing the cast breaking up amongst other things. The 5 minute “Monkey Business” is a piece on the star of the show, Crystal the monkey, and adds interview with monkey trainers Tom Gunderson and Mike Alexander. This section ends with the 21 minute “Comedy Central’s Reel Comedy: Night at the Museum.” The next section is the Security Office. It starts with the 7 minute “Building the Museum” which interviews producer designer Claude Pare. The 5 minute “Historical Threads: The Costumes of Night at the Museum” adds interviews with Mizuo Peck, costume designer Renee April, Patrick Gallagher, and Rami Malek (“Ahkmenrah”).
Finally there’s the 10 minute “The Director’s Vision: A Storyboard Comparison with introduction by director Shawn Levy” which is pretty self-explanatory. The Stagecoach section starts off with the 11 minute “Making of Night at the Museum.” It adds interviews with Robin Williams, Carla Gugino, Ricky Gervais, and Mickey Rooney. Next is the 10 minute “Fox Movie Channel Presents: Making a Scene” which adds interviews with associate producer Ellen M. Sommers and film editor Don Zimmerman. Next is the 25 minute “Fox Movie Channel Presents: Life after Film School.”
Director Shawn Levy sits down with three film students (Sarah Davidson, David Kalisher, and Mark Stern) to answer their questions. Finally the trailers section has trailers for Night at the Museum (teaser and full trailer), Robots, and Dr. Dolittle. The Rexy section has the “Reunite with Rexy Game” that you can play on DVD-ROM.
Night at the Museum is a fun film that the whole family can enjoy. The film comes onto DVD in two flavors and whichever one you choose you’ll get a nice selection of extras. Big fans of the film will want to spring for the two-disc version, but others will be well serviced by the single discs (well, unless you just hate commentaries). As long as your monkey doesn’t snatch the disc, you should have a good night at the movies.
Night at the Museum (Two-Disc Special Edition) is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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