I did not go into this movie with great expectations. For the past few years Ben Stiller has been dealing out trashy "so-called funny" movies. From the highs of "Meet the Parents" it has been a great fall indeed.
So when I got a chance to see this movie, I went ahead with the full knowledge that I was going to lose 1.5 hours of my life to a meaningless movie.
Maybe it was this "ab isse bura kya ho saktha hai" attitude that changed things for me.
The movie opened on familiar territory. A loser dad is out of a job and is on the verge of losing the affections of his son to his ex-wife’s fiance.
He needs to get a steady job to impress the kid and the only opening he gets is that of a Night Guard at the Museum of Natural History. He takes the job out of desperation. Everything looks hunky-dory to begin with. Or does it?** Now wait a minute!** I swear I saw a huge dinosaur skeleton here just now.
Where has it gone? Bow-wow woof woof.
And then begins the roller-coaster adventure. Translating the funny visual madness that goes out after that will spoil the movie for others. So I will limit myself to just a few thoughts.
I have often wondered how we could make History interesting to students. This movie has come up with a brilliant idea for anyone who is interested. Watch the movie to find out.
As for the actors, when you have Robbin Williams, Dick van D*ke, Ben Stiller, Ricky Gervais and Owen Wilson, you can bet its going to be a good ride. And it is one heck of a ride. All actors enact their roles with aplomb.
Ben Stiller plays, well - himself - in a typical’loser’ role that he has played many times before. I bet he could sleepwalk through these roles. Someone give him more challenging roles
Robin Williams plays the wax model of Teddy Roosevelt. I think his on-screen romance with the Indian tracker woman Sacajawea, caused the makers to explicitly say that this was not Teddy the president, but a wax model of his.(Imagine the ruckus if some Indian movie had the Mahatma romancing with a babe! Freedom of expression indeed.) Robin helps Ben setup law and order in the rowdy Museum premises and helps him in the climax before going on to finally talk to Sacajawea.
Dick van D*ke is the suave villain and fits the part perfectly. Can you believe that in his long career, this is only the second role where he plays the villain?
Ricky Gervais plays the pompous as* of a museum director to perfection.
Most of the humour is cheesy and may appear a bit predictable, but it is a good timepass.
All in all, it was a good 1.5 hours. I am sure I will not remember this movie the next morning, but it was good while it lasted.
On an additional note, museum officials at the New York American Museum of Natural History have credited the film for increasing the number of visitors during the holiday season by almost 20%. According to a museum official, between December 22 and January 2 there were 50, 000 more visitors than during the same period last year.