In this week's edition of Blurb Racket—the Gelf feature in which we take a close look at those critic blurbs that are a fixture of ads for movies—see breakdowns of blurbs for Notes on a Scandal, Freedom Writers, Children of Men, and more. This week's Bogus Blurb of the Week comes in an ad for Night at the Museum:

Los Angeles Times: "A bona fide blockbuster!"
That's a line from a news article about Museum's box-office success. Kevin Crust's Times review offered little reason why the Ben Stiller vehicle should be a blockbuster. Crust says the "tedious family comedy" is composed mainly of a "series of sight gags and set pieces that wreak much havoc but little else." For passing off a box-office news article as a rave, this wins Gelf's Bogus Blurb of the Week award.

Paul Antonson