DVD Movie Review: A Little Silly Nerd Fun with "Night at the Museum"

Don't know much about history . . .

Yeah, yeah, I know it only got 44% at RottenTomatoes, but I don't care. "Night at the Museum" (2006) is lighthearted, silly, fluffy, escapist nerd fun with history, and I love it. It's a nerd kid's fantasy: at night in the museum, all the exhibits come to life and wreak all sorts of merry havoc. What a great idea, no?

Besides, this flick has a lot of talent in it -- 3 generations of comic talent from Dick van Dyke and Mickey Rooney to Robin Williams to Ben Stiller and his perpetual sidekick Owen Wilson.

If you're in the mood for a little playful fun, you could do much worse than "Night at the Museum." It won't win any Oscars, and it doesn't quite live up to its great potential, but it has some fun moments and some delightful characters. Check out Steve Coogan as Octavius the tiny Roman general, Owen Wilson as Jedediah from the Old West, Robin Williams as the boisterous Teddy Roosevelt ("Bully!"), and -- of course -- Rexie the dinosaur.

MM gives this movie a solid B for fun entertainment that also encourages an interest in history. Bonus: there were a few parts of the flick that made me laugh out loud, including one hilarious throwaway line by Jedediah referring to another movie.

Nerd Note: the Carla Gugino character says that she's been working on her dissertation for four years and that it's 900 pages long. GET REAL! What kind of goofy grad school is she in? My Nerd Lords would have my head if I said I wanted four years (and 900 pages) for the diss!