Night at the Museum

Starring: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Carla Gugino

Director: Shawn Levy

Category: I

Festive fun doesn't come much more comfortable and uncomplicated than Night at the Museum. Shawn Levy's film is based on the old children's fantasy that fossils, stuffed animals and wax figures in museums come to life after closing time. And he delivers an undemanding romp that's high on family entertainment, if low on surprises.

There are ample opportunities for Ben Stiller - as night watchman Larry Daley struggling to come to terms with the New York Museum of Natural History's nocturnal disorder - to run around playing a bumbling comic in distress. He gets chased variously by a dinosaur and a pack of Huns, is hassled by playful primates, and lectured by Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams) dressed in full regalia for the Spanish-American war.

With Stiller cast as the comic foil to the shenanigans around him, there's not much demand on his acting talents. By contrast, the likes of Williams and Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan (as a cowboy and a centurion, respectively) get plenty of opportunity to shine.