Hapless Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is in danger of losing his son, Nick (Jake Cherry). He's not really concerned about his ex-wife, but Nick? That worries him. Especially when Nick mentions that he's ready to hang up his hockey skates and start practicing to be a stockbroker, like his new dad, Don (Paul Rudd).
Spurred on by the thought of losing his son's hockey career to the over-achieving Don - or at least to his utility belt of cell phones, Larry decides that he needs to get on with his life and do something. So begging for a job at the unemployment office, he begs for just about anything. What he gets is something that no one would have expected.
You see, Larry gets a job as a night watchman and the Museum of Natural History. And as they say, history has a way of coming to life. It's never been more true than it is at this place after they lock the doors for the night.
Before Larry gets the job, he has to make it through the interview. Despite being given the once-over by pugilistic Gus (Mickey Rooney), and catching a wary eye from Reginald (Bill Cobbs), head watchman Cecil (Dick Van Dyke) takes an immediate liking to Larry and that's what gets him in the door.
It seems that these three old codgers are being shuffled out the door in favor of someone younger - and without a pension. So they aren't too happy about him coming in to take their place. But they seem to think that he might be the one to do the job. He can start that night. Cecil gives Larry The Manual - which is really just a thick stack of papers, with plenty of stains on it - and a ring of keys, instructions to do everything in the manual in the order that they are listed, and with well wishes, Larry is left alone. Well, without any human company anyway.
As soon as he's alone, we discover why Larry has been drifting from job to job. It seems that his attention span isn't very long. He plays with the intercom and falls asleep, and before you know it, he's out. He didn't even remember to do anything in the manual. So halfway through the night, he is out cold. Then he falls out of his chair, startling himself enough to wake up, and realize that he needs to use the restroom. On his way there, he realizes that he's managed to miss something. The large dinosaur skeleton is missing. Gone. It's apparently completely disappeared while he was napping.
Only then does he realize that it isn't exactly missing. It's alive.
A frantic call to Cecil reminds him that he hasn't yet read the manual, and that returns Larry to reality. It leads him to step 1, which is actually quite simple. It reads plainly: Throw the bone. You see, the dinosaur isn't chasing him. It wants to play fetch. And the scary moment turns into a touching one. A massive T-Rex skeleton is rather intimidating, however, and can make quite a mess, however.
The next step is a little more challenging: Lock up the lions or they will eat you. Larry then has to remember where to find the lions, but he manages to find his way to the Africa exhibit and make his way through, but not before realizing that Dexter the monkey stole his keys. Unfortunately he didn't realize that was on the instruction sheet, and now it's too late. The keys are gone. Larry does manage to get the keys back, but at the expense of the instruction sheet - Dexter eats it for a midnight snack.
As it turns out, the entire museum comes to life, courtesy of the tablet of Ahkmenrah. Larry is told this by none other than Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), who helps him through the first night. By the next morning, Larry is ready to quit, but on the steps of the museum, Larry meets up with his son Nick, who's excited that his dad is working there, so he decides to come back for one more go.
The next night, Larry is ready to meet the challenge head-on, and he does well for a while. But then things start to go a little haywire. It seems that the Romans, led by a conquest-happy centurion (Steve Coogan) are trying to break through their display in an attempt to gain more ground. That leads them to conflict with the neighboring cowboys, led by Jedediah (Owen Wilson), a cowboy with an inferiority complex.
This actually leads to Larry's first problems with Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), the curator of the museum, when the stocks in the cowboy exhibit end up with a roman in them the next morning. Very picky that this guy notices such a small change in one of the displays.
All over the museum there are problems, and perhaps none of them are worse than little Dexter, who insists on causing Larry issues at every turn, and the most challenging is the fact that when he steals the keys, it runs the risk of some of the exhibits getting out of the museum, and anyone caught outside when the sun rises will turn to dust.
The second night generally runs smoothly (relatively speaking), but the Neanderthal exhibit sets fire to themselves, so Larry puts them out with a fire extinguisher, and one of them escapes out a window, but can't get back inside in time, so turns to dust in the morning. Strangely, though the fire extinguisher is mentioned, the fact that one of the men is missing doesn't really come up.
And that just about gets him fired (again). In fact, Nick and his friends see this exchange with the curator of the museum, and that causes some grief. But that sets up the conclusion of the movie in the third night, where Larry sets the stage for Nick by bringing him into the museum to see everything come to life. Larry is now determined not to lose this job.
So he brings Nick in, and at sundown, he tells Nick to get ready and... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Larry goes to check on the tablet and finds that it's missing. Someone has stolen the tablet! Just about that time, Cecil, Gus and Reginald show up to tell Larry that he's just a patsy that they needed to secure their retirement, and lock him in the tomb with the mummy - but before they do, Larry convinces Nick to turn one of the panels on the tablet, which brings the museum back to life. That, in turn, brings the mummy to life, and that's how Larry and Nick get out of their jail.
You see, Ahkmenrah can speak English (as well as a number of other languages), so he can help round up the denizens of the museum and capture the three who are trying to make off with the tablet, so one of the more bizarre chases that Manhattan has ever seen now ensues. There are animals and dinosaurs (well, dinosaur skeletons) and even a small remote control car, driven by the now-friendly centurion and cowboy that chase down Cecil in his stagecoach.
It all comes down to Larry, who managed to do some boning up on his history, and in so doing he found out the secret word to stop the horses. So he shouts Dakota, which stops the horses, and the museum is saved. With the help of Ahkmenrah, everyone is rounded back up, and just in time everyone gets back inside. Unfortunately, the museum is a mess.
When Dr. McPhee comes back in, it looks like Larry is about to be fired. There are news reports of dinosaur tracks in the snow, of cave drawings in the subway and it's all over. But then they go out front and there are huge lines of people. That's enough to save Larry's job (again), and he's firmly cemented his place as the new night watchman.
The Bottom Line: Though I'm really not a huge fan of Ben Stiller (he tends to grate on my nerves), here he delivers a solid performance. Often his over-the-top antics will make the role suffer, but he tones it down, and it shows in his work. There are a lot of supporting roles, and that can lead to some confusion, but it comes together nicely.
Rated PG for mild action, language and brief rude humor.
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