Night at the Museum

After seeing previews for Night at the Museum run almost endlessly on Comedy Central, I was both looking forward to and slightly dreading this film. I say looking forward to because it looked absolutely hysterical, and I say dreading because any movie that has to advertise that much on a show whose demographic suggests 18-25 year old male either has self esteem issues or really has something wrong with it.

But I was still looking forward to it, because the trailers were funny. My only fear was that all the funny parts were in the trailer, and that nothing would remain for me to actually see in the movie. Thankfully I wasn't disappointed.

The movie was really quite funny. You've all probably seen the premise, part Jumanji part Indian in the Cupboard. The idea was that some ancient Egyptian talisman made everything in the museum come to life at night, but they all had to stay in the museum until sunrise or they'd turn to dust. There's also a subplot involving theft and the inhabitants of the museum coming together, but to be honest, everyone had to see that coming, I'm really only interested in what entertained me (which was the comedy, not the hokey plot).

Ben Stiller was funny, not spectacularly, not dismally, but he performed in typical Ben Stiller fashion. Ricky Gervais must have ad libbed half his lines, as I can't imagine anyone actually writing dialogue that contained only half sentences and mutterings. It was funny, sure, but was either unscripted or written by someone who had to of known Gervais was playing the role. Robin Williams was typically funny, but shockingly, played a somewhat believable wax Teddy Roosevelt, who was also funny.

The real jems of the movie were Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson, who played the miniature Octavias and Jedidiah. They're interaction was the best part of the movie, and every time they were off the screen I kept waiting for them to come back. They were ridiculous, and fantastic, which means they were utterly comical.

It was a good movie, really I liked it, and I'll probably buy it on DVD when it comes out. More importantly, I thought it was more funny than Borat, which everyone seems to think is the best movie since sliced bread. Borat WAS funny, but it wasn't the be all, end all of comedy. So go check out Night at the Museum, it's well worth your time and your money, and with Seasonal Affective Disorder on the prowl, it just might save your life!