Night At The Museum a Family "Night" Hit
By Yahoo! Shopping User May 2, 2007
Pros: The sets are beautifully lit. There is plenty of comedy fit for a family. There is no foul language, or even overt sexuality; just fun family entertainment.
Cons: There is a major plothole near the end of the movie. The bonus features ar limited to just a couple choices for commentary.
Ben Stiller is typically not known as a man who can make worthwhile family comedy. The majority of his movies (with the exception of "Meet The Parents" and its subsequent sequel, "Meet The Fockers.") are known as rather pointless ...inane works that make absolutely no sense whatsoever (E.g. Dodgeball, There's Something About Mary, Zoolander) However, with Night at The Museum, Stiller may have finally struck gold. This movie is a wonderfully crafted family film that will still please even his longtime fans in that in some spots, Stiller does begin to revert to his rather unique brand of comedy. The movie places Stiller in the role of Larry, a night watchman at a museum of science and history. The secret to the museum is that everything comes to life at night, which leads to the real story of the movie. The tablet of the pharoah becomes the centerpiece of the movie once Larry finally begins getting used to his position. And for those who prefer romance, there is even a little of that, only not where one would expect it to come from. It would be no surprise if after families see this movie, there may very well be a large increase in the number of young people becoming interested in science and history. That is not a bad thing, either. This movie really does protray both in a very fun light. The real high point of this movie is not so much the story and the wonderfully lit sets, but the messages sent in the story. Robin Williams, who plays a mannequin of President Theodore Roosevelt, tells Stiller's character that even the simplest man can be great. He tells this to Larry because his character is a quitter before he comes to the museum. His wife had divorced him because he couldn't keep a job. But after giving up a couple of times in the movie, Stiller's character finally is forced to become that great man that Roosevelt had told him he could be. The other message is simply that no matter how difficult things can become, one should never give up. These two messages are ones that anyone of any age should truly take to heart. What makes this movie even more believeable is the storyline of Stiller's character, his son and his wife and the effect of divorce on a child. This is very real subject matter. Divorce happens every single day in America. And it is very difficult on both adults and children. While there are plenty of positives in this movie, there are still some negatives. The major negative is the complte lack of any real bonus features. The only extra features are commentary. Also, there is one major plothole left at the end, that perhaps the movie's cast and crew expected audiences to either overlook or perhaps answer for themselves. Either way, there is a question left at the end that if answered would have made the movie complete. The noted question will not be noted here as perhaps any who read this may have yet to see the movie. And this review is not intended ot ruin the movie for anyone who has yet to see the movie. It is jsut taht when a plothole of suchsize exists, it MUST be pointed out. Despite all of this, the movie is areally fun, family ride the rest of the way through. What is really interesting about this movie is that it came out in the holiday movie season. It is not a holiday movie. So it was very poorly placed, yet it became quite the sleeper hit in theaters, which is actually no surprise. And it would be no surprise if DVD sales were just as impressive. For those who perhaps have not seen it, this movie is a wonderful family film for any time of the year. Read more Less
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