“Night at the Museum”

Directed by: Shawn Levy Starring: Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Carla Gugino, Robin Williams, Charlie Murphy, Owen Wilson and Jake Cherry Rating: PG (for mild action, mild crude humor) Running time: 107 minutes Best suited for: younger children Least suited for: the parents taking them

“Night at the Museum” is a bad film with good special effects. It has the feel of one of those pandering rushedintoChristmas efforts intending to appease (or at least occupy) those families with a rare evening to kill together. And it seems likely to succeed in that effort, largely because the trailer’s pretty slick. The trailer’s also the best part of the film.

Unfortunately, younger kids will look past the lack of plot and substance and see only the slapstick computerized graphics— the perky dinosaur who chases bones, the charging lions, the pilfering monkeys, the “little people”—museum miniatures, dressed like cowboys and Roman legions, who duke it out every night. So the kids will probably love it—and most adults will suffer in silence.

The story, for those who simply need to know, is about Larry (Ben Stiller), a divorced, outofwork schemer whose loving son is about to lose faith in him. Larry needs a job, and the night guard position is available.

That particular father-son plot device worked well in Jim Carrey’s “Liar, Liar” and in a half-dozen similar flicks where the son is an essential element of the film, but here the setup is just an extra 20 minutes to get Larry into the museum where the fun (such as it is) starts. Why Larry wasn’t a museum guard in the first place I don’t understand, unless some sort of morality fable is expected this time of year.

So Larry’s introduced to his rounds by a trio of retiring security guards—Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs. They’ve been looking for the “right” new night guy, and apparently Larry is it.

It takes Larry only a few moments, locked up and alone his first evening on the clock to realize that the museum comes alive at night. The animals, the statues, the exhibits all crank up into action and wreak havoc.

Something to do with an old Egyptian curse, we’re told— which works as well as anything. Fortunately, everybody speaks proper English, so there’s no loss in translation. Even Ahkmenrah the mummy has the language down, having been loaned out to Cambridge for awhile.

There’s a vague romantic innuendo thrown into “Night at the Museum” as well as a plot to steal the ancient curse (which will effectively shut down the museum’s nightly antics), and, of course, Larry must gain back the trust and love of his son—all over the course of three nights.

Oh, and he also manages to pull the museum back in the black, the place having lost money for ages. Something about dinosaur tracks in the snow, presumably Larry’s impromptu marketing gimmick. It’s silly stuff but, like I say, “Night at the Museum” works as a brainless kids’ flick. The only problem is, most adults will have to put their thoughts on hold as well.