My wife and I took our son and a buddy to this film over the holidays...and my expectations were low. Not that I'm not a Ben Stiller fan (Zoolander is hi-larious), but this seemed to be simply a brand awareness film for him...not brand defining and certainly not brand re-defining. Lot's of actors do it (think Robin Williams...repeatedly), so I'm not going to be critical of him for that fact. It's just that I don't typically get excited about movies that seem mainly created as a vehicle to widen an actor's brand into new demographics.
But I think I was wrong in thinking about Night at the Museum in these terms. Based on the book by Milan Trenc, this film is utterly charming and entertaining. The best performance? Owen Wilson as a cowboy from a diorama who feels a little impotent (his guns don't shoot).
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appliedthinking