Night at the Museum

New from The Movie Snob

Night at the Museum (D). There are children's movies that both children and adults can enjoy. Night at the Museum is not one of those movies. The premise sounded promising--an ordinary guy takes a job as a night watchman at the Museum of Natural Science where, to his surprise, all of the exhibits come to life after sundown, including the tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the lobby. In the inept hands of director Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther, the Cheaper by the Dozen movies), what should be magical is rendered amazingly dull. Having the unappealing Ben Stiller (Starsky & Hutch) as protagonist Larry Daley didn't help matters any. Neither did the sappy subplot about Larry's son being terribly disappointed in him because he can't hold down a steady job. The swooning musical score was terrible. To be fair, the kids in the audience seemed perfectly happy with the movie. If you're an adult, however, you should consider taking a flashlight and a book.