There’s comfort in the familiar, and two new releases certainly follow the formula. Yet one seems sure of its little place and so delivers a diverting time, while the other aspires to more and ultimately expires because of it.
With “Night at the Museum,” you know the outcome just 15 minutes into the 108-minute show. Director Shawn Levy sets up the problem for his star, Ben Stiller, then sits back and watches him solve it.
Viewers can almost see Levy laughing behind the camera as Stiller, supremely comfortable and enjoyable as Larry the night watchman, interacts with people big and small.
The film is for just about anyone. Children will enjoy the afterhours goings-on at this museum.
Parents will chuckle not just at Stiller’s shtick but the many injokes and references to some of Tinseltown’s biggest hits.
Robin Williams, as the larger-than- life Teddy Roosevelt, asks Larry a question, the film’s small, simple main idea: “I’m made of wax. What are you made of?”
“Night at the Museum” is pure Hollywood, a popcorn-and-soda fest. It’s eye- and ear-candy, and there’s nothing wrong with that every once in a while.
“Deja Vu,” on the other hand, begins with intrigue, reaches fascinating, dizzying heights by mid-film, then plunges into a free fall.
Tony Scott directs, and he certainly had the budget to create a winner. Denzel Washington brings his usual magnetic power to the role of ATF agent Doug Carlin.
However, the mystery lifts and the film drifts roughly two-thirds through the 128-minute runtime. Scott, who teamed with Washington on the exceptional “Man on Fire,” is left to wrap up the proceedings.
Though unrelated in other ways, “Deja Vu” is similar to 1941’s “Meet John Doe” in one important, disappointing aspect: after building the drama and putting the viewer squarely in the main character’s corner, Scott, like “Doe” director Frank Capra, is stuck there. Unfortunately, there’s still 10 minutes before the end credits roll.
Earlier, “Deja Vu” makes the mistake of embracing a controversial subject – government surveillance – and releasing it without sufficient probing.
In this movie, the special effects outstrip the screen writing.
Indeed, what could have been a rich discussion of ends and means, quantum universes, even the finality of death, becomes instead a poor attempt at mixing drama, science and romance.
