Robert Ben Garant Movies

Eddie Murphy stars in this new incarnation of Richard Matheson's classic adventure, this time portrayed with a comic slant in the tale of a magician who must break a shrinking hex that's been thrown on him before he grows so small that he ceases to exist. The Reno 911! screenwriting duo of Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant provide the script, with Brett Ratner taking on directing duties. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Ben Stiller returns as Larry Daley, the unfortunate night watchman who continues to encounter living and breathing museum exhibits in Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian, 20th Century Fox's tent-pole sequel from director Shawn Levy. Scott Frank, Robert Ben Garant, and Thomas Lennon provide the script, with Chris Columbus returning to handle producing duties. Amy Adams (Enchanted) and Hank Azaria join the returning cast of Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, and Owen Wilson in the 1492 and 21 Laps Entertainment co-production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

A disgraced former ping pong champion is drawn back into the world of high-stakes table tennis to carry out a top-secret mission in the feature directorial debut of Reno 911! writer/director Ben Garant. Far removed from the rigidly regulated world of professional sports, clandestine ping pong tournaments offer thrilling competition where only the strong survive. There was a time when the mere mention of the name Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) was enough to make even those most hardened ping pong player cower in fear, but these days Randy has fallen out of favor with ping-pong fans. The former champ soon receives a much-needed shot at redemption, however, when he is recruited by a determined FBI agent named Rodriguez (George Lopez) to win a coveted spot in the upcoming underground table tennis tournament and ferret out the nefarious Feng (Christopher Walken), whose thriving criminal empire has transformed him into a true menace to society. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The new night watchman at New York's Museum of Natural History finds that the job comes with more responsibility than he ever dreamed in this wild fantasy comedy directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Van Dyke. Larry Daley (Stiller) is a kind-hearted dreamer who always knew that he was destined for greatness, he just never quite knew how. None of his ideas or inventions has panned out, so with a heavy heart, he takes a regular job as a lowly graveyard-shift security guard at the Museum of Natural History in order to provide a more stable life for himself and his ten-year-old son. His first night on the job, however, he finds that guardianship of the museum is far from stable -- at nightfall, an Egyptian spell brings the artifacts and wax figures to life! With Attila the Hun charging to war through the hallways, the diorama miniatures embroiled in a deadly feud, and a two-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex nagging to play fetch, Larry has half a mind to turn tail and run. On top of cleaning up after two million years of historical chaos every night, he also has to make sure that not a single museum piece leaves the building -- from the bratty Capuchin monkey in the African exhibit, to the life-sized Neanderthal in the prehistoric display -- because if morning light falls on an escaped artifact, it will turn to dust. Larry turns to a wax replica of President Roosevelt (Williams) for a little advice on keeping things in tact, but Teddy seems to think that a man of Larry's greatness needs little help. Larry isn't sure if the former commander in chief is right; this is hardly what he signed up for, but he can't pass up the chance to care for a museum where history really does come to life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The officers of the Reno, Nevada Sheriff's department are back with a fourth season of Reno 911! that's full of murder intrigue, and a disturbingly (and mysteriously) pregnant Officer Wiegel. From committing election fraud to donning hot pink uniforms and blowing up various large items, the officers give their all in every episode after gloriously inept episode.

Buckle up for another ride with the officers of Reno Nevada’s Sheriff’s Department in this third season DVD of the hit Comedy Central Series. From a stint in prison to an accidental cat killing to close encounters of the S.A.R.S. kind, you can expect nothing but foolish choices and utter mediocrity from these hapless law enforcers!

An inept cop suddenly gets a new partner in the person of a cabbie with attitude in this high-rolling comedy. Washburn (Jimmy Fallon) is a police officer who becomes the laughingstock of the department after a series of traffic accidents cause him to lose his driver's license. One day, Washburn gets an urgent call to head out to the location of a bank robbery; unable to drive himself there, he hails a cab. As it happens, the taxi is being driven by Belle (Queen Latifah), a single mom who, after making a name for herself as the fastest pizza delivery person in New York, has moved up to driving a hack. What begins as a wild ride to the scene of the crime gets even wilder as Washburn and Belle become unexpected allies while following the trail of a team of beautiful but reckless female bank robbers led by Vanessa (Gisele Bundchen). Adapted from a popular French action comedy with the same name, Taxi was Jimmy Fallon's first big-screen vehicle after leaving the cast of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The whole police reality show genre is savagely raked over the coals as Reno 911! enters its second season. The men and women of the Washoe County Sheriff's Department continue to allow cameras to follow them everywhere, though why they do it is anybody's guess, since the resulting videotapes succeed only in showing everyone off in the worst possible light. (Come to think of it, would there be any laughs if they were seen in the best possible light?) The season begins as department leader Lt. Dangle (Tom Lennon) announces his retirement and schedules his own testimonial dinner -- which may be very sparsely attended thanks to a sold-out sports event. Later on, the deputies ponder the possibility that Deputy Trudy Weigel's new boyfriend may be a serial killer (she never has had much luck in affairs of the heart). In other episodes, a British inspector (Tom Bolster) shows up to compare the department's methods with those of Scotland Yard (gee, no contest there); a jailed televangelist uses his cell as a studio for his weekly "Half Hour of Power" telecast; a bitter turf war develops when the policeman's ball and the fireman's pancake dinner are scheduled on the same night; and for some obscure reason, Kenny Rogers makes not one but two guest appearances -- along with his real-life assistant Patton Oswalt. Season two comes to a riotous conclusion as Deputy Jones (Cedric Yarbrough) -- who apparently didn't die at the end of Season one -- and Deputy Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui) are accused of murdering the infamous Milkshake Man, whereupon the series' cast is replaced by a veritable battalion of celebrities (if it makes sense in context, we'll be very surprised). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A group of talented improv players were seen on this Comedy Central weekly, which mercilessly spoofed such reality series as Cops. Heading the Washoe County Sheriff's Department in Reno, NV, was Lt. Jim Dangle (played by Thomas Lennon, who also co-produced), a sexually ambivalent lawman who preferred to show up at a crime scene wearing the shortest of shorts. Dangle's team included the silent but deadly Travis Junior (Robert Ben Garant, another co-producer); the nerdish, heavily medicated Trudy Weigel (Keri Kenney, likewise a member of the production team); flamboyantly streetwise Williams (Niecy Nash); and sexpot Clementine Johnson (Wendi McLendon-Covey). On the off chance that anyone would take the lampoonish hand-held photography and ad-libbed dialogue seriously, the producers served up such nonsensical episodes as the opener, in which the squad went after a pervert who molested department-store mannequins. Assembled by the same gang responsible for the Latino variety-series satire Viva Variety!, Reno 911! debuted July 23, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide