Night at the Museum (2006)

Night at the Museum is based on Milan Trenc's 1993 book, The Night at the Museum.

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is a bit of a loser. He just can't seem to catch a break with his business schemes. It doesn't help that his ex, Erica (Kim Raver), is getting along fine without him, or that his son, Nicky Daley (Jake Cherry), is looking up to his mother's fiancé, Don (Paul Rudd).

He desperately needs a job so he doesn't have to move to cheaper digs outside the city, The employment agency sends him to the New York Museum of Natural History, which is looking for a night watchman, but so far has turned down every applicant the agency's sent their way.

He passes the job interview with the three night watchmen – Cecil Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke), Gus (Mickey Rooney) and 9Reginald (Bill Cobbs) – who are being downsized and replaced by one watchman. At first, it seems the job has only one drawback – Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), Larry's boss, is a highly excitable, highly conservative museum director who sometimes has trouble finishing a sentence before launching into the next.

Then, he spends his first night on the job. That's when he meets:

·         A playful, thirsty Tyrannosaurus skeleton that loves to play fetch

·         Fire-seeking cavemen and pyramid-building Mayans

·         A talking, insulting Easter Island head (voiced by Brad Garrett)

·         Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher) and his horde of murderous Huns

·         Meredith Lewis (Martin Christopher), William Clark (Martin Sims), and Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck)

·         A wandering stuffed moose, birds, lions, mastodon, elephant and zebras

·         A miniature western railroad-building diorama crew headed by cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson, uncredited), out to wreak revenge

·         A Roman legion commanded by Octavius (Steve Coogan), that lays siege upon him

·         Dexter, a mischievous slap-happy, kleptomaniac, accurate-peeing capuchin monkey

It's a good thing Cecil left him an instruction book.

Larry is rescued from certain capture and bodily harm by Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), who explains that the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, brought to America in 1952, is responsible for the museum denizens coming to life each night. Pres. Roosevelt explains that anyone caught outside the museum when the sun rises will turn to dust.

Morning comes, and he'd like to quit, but it's complicated. His son's respect, his self-esteem ... y'know. Besides, he's becoming attracted to Rebecca Hutman (Carla Gugino), a museum docent who's working on a dissertation about Sacajawea. It also seems that Roosevelt is attracted to Sacajawea, and vice- versa. The problem is that she's trapped behind glass and nobody can communicate with her.

Although he's almost fired, Larry hangs on for Nicky's sake. Unfortunately, when he takes his son to work with him, nothing happens. It seems the former watchman trio want the tablet to set themselves up for the rest of their lives and have stolen it. Yikes!

But it's Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek) to the rescue! Larry handles the explosive situation and makes his son proud of him, bringing the movie to a successful conclusion.

Night at the Museum is one of my favorite movies. The casting was right on, the script was inspired, and the production values were top notch. When it came time to laugh, I couldn't control myself.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson only worked together for one day. When Stiller was supposed to be interacting with Wilson, he actually was talking to a stand-in – a toothpick. Three months later, Wilson came in and filmed his scenes. Why wasn't Wilson credited? His part was supposed to be a cameo, but when test audiences reacted favorably to his scenes, his part was expanded, although he remained uncredited.

And, you probably already knew this, but Debbie, the woman in the employment office, is Anne Meara, Ben Stiller's real-life mother.

The American Museum of Natural History benefited heavily from the publicity gained from the film. The holiday season following the December opening saw the museum's attendance increase by 20%.

Night at the Museum was followed up in 2009 with a sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Grade: A+