A movie where history literally comes alive? No way! But, somehow, this kooky idea works in an endearing and surrealistic way.
Ben Stiller stars as Larry Daley, an underachiever with a penchant for bouncing from job to job as he is constantly evicted from one apartment after another. Having had a divorce, Larry shares custody of his son with his ex-wife and her new husband. After finally being fed up with feeling inadequate in the eyes of his son, Larry takes a job as a night watchman at the Museum of Natural History in hopes that the semblance of stability will help earn back his ex-wife's and his son's respect. However, things are not always how they appear, as Larry soon discovers that at night, the museum comes to life...
The film has a bit of a slow start as the plot lays the ground work for Larry's desperate acceptance of the night watchman's position. I was left feeling anxious for the hilarity to ensue when the museum finally awakens from it's slumber. Fortunately, once the storyline finally gets to that point, the wacky hijinks commence, one right after the other, causing the film to become far more satisfying. If you overlook the fact that this is a Ben Stiller vehicle (as in, a comedic role that has a fairly cookie-cutter resemblence to most of Ben Stiller's previous roles) the movie turns out to be a wild ride of incredible special effects, and hilarious moments in the interaction between Larry and the newly life-like museum displays.
Robin Williams does an amazing job as a wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt, who becomes a sort of guide and mentor to Stiller's character of Larry as Larry struggles to come to terms with the unbelievable things he is witnessing. Owen Wilson also has a small supporting role as a teeny tiny cowboy from one of the displays in the diorama room, who is hell-bent on busting out of his display and doing battle against the Roman General, Octavius (equally tiny) who resides in the display next to his. Wilson's character is also fairly typical of his usual roles, but that doesn't make it any less funny. Actually (if you're looking for a little trivia) Wilson and Stiller only came face-to-face during filming once, for only a few minutes. All of Wilson's scenes were filmed in one day (in front of a green screen so that his character can be shrunk down to size and re-inserted into the film). The production crew placed a toothpick on the various sets so that Stiller had a focal point for where he was supposed to look when delivering his dialogue during the scenes that would eventually include Wilson's shrunken cowboy.
This whole movie is one giant leap into the magical realm of suspended reality that Hollywood is so good at creating. Can museums really come to life? No --- but man, it be cool if they did. Keep your eye out for my favorite (and in my opinion, the funniest) scene from the film in which Larry finally confronts Attila the Hun, who makes a habit of chasing him down and attempting to dismember him each night. Larry squares off against Attila and his barbaric horde, and proves he's in control by bringing Attila to tears. You have to see it to truly appreciate the humor. I also enjoyed the keys stealing monkey, Dexter, and his crazy penchant for causing Larry a lot of trouble. As far as special features go, this particular disc only has 2 audio commentaries available. If you're wanting more than that in the special features department, you're probably better off purchasing the 2-disc special edition.
Bottom line -- it gets off to a slow start, but eventually picks up and dazzles the audience with it's style, humor, and the general laugh-worthy age old question of "Can't we all just get along"?
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