This is a great and entertaining family friendly film. It follows Larry (Ben Stiller, Permanent Midnight), a down on his luck schemer who has hit a dead end and is losing the respect of his 10 year old son, Nick. When the going gets tough, the tough get a job, apparently. His nothing of a resume qualifies him for one position, and that is Night Watchman at the museum of natural history.
Under the tutelage of Cecil (Dick Van Dyke, Mary Poppins), he is selected to take over for the old retiring guards, which include Mickey Rooney (Black Beauty). These guys are hilarious. Anyways, there’s something Larry learns on his first night of watch duty, and that is, that everything in the museum comes to life, literally, when the sun goes down.
Larry, thinking he’s lost his mind, is carefully informed by Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams, Bicentennial Man) how everything comes to life because of the power of a priceless Egyptian gold tablet. And as the night watchman, It’s Larry’s job to keep order. He runs into the miniatures, where a surly cowboy named Jed (Luke Wilson, Shanghai Nights), and a mischievous monkey named Dexter.
In any case, it’s pretty funny, until the retired night watchmen turn out to be crooks who are going to steal the tablet for their retirment, and frame Larry for it. It’s a battle at the end, and Larry must pull it together and do this job the best that he has ever done anything. A definite 2, and wonderful for the whole family, really good, and absolutely classic Ben Stiller. He’s at his best, since probably, Mystery Men.
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