Review of Night at the Museum

Larry Daley needs to get a job quickly if his ex-wife is to allow him to keep seeing his son; he finds a job working as the night-watchman at a New York museum. It turns out that it is no ordinary museum; each night all of the exhibits come to life! This means he has to contend with a rampaging T-Rex skeleton, assorted animals, Attila the Hun as well as miniature cowboys and Romans who want to fight each other. He does get some help though; from a waxwork of Teddy Roosevelt. He learns that the strange goings on are due to a valuable Egyptian tablet. After his first night he is ready to quit but doesn't because of his son; after the second he is almost fired then on the third night he invites his son to see his work… this will be his toughest night yet as he must unite the living exhibits to thwart a robbery.

This film is good harmless fun that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The story is fun with plenty of laughs and a tension without being too scary. There is no offensive material beyond the sight of a monkey urinating on Larry. The special effects are really rather good making it easy to suspend disbelief and accept that everything has come to life. Ben Stiller does a fine job as Larry, a believable ordinary man caught up in an extraordinary situation. He gets fine support from Robin Williams as Roosevelt; and plenty of other familiar actors including Dick Van Dyke, Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais amongst others. Overall I'd say that I enjoyed this more than I would and would recommend it to anybody wanting some family friendly entertainment.