Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)

It was difficult to finish watching this. Busyness, does not equal imagination. I'm sorry I wasted my time on it. I think I confused this with The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus which I saw a trailer for. Thank goodness I took this out of the library, and didn't pay anything for it.The ostensibly "childlike wonder" the leads are trying to convey is trying way too hard, forced,contrived,unconvincing, and positively wooden in their execution.Even the emotional payout when "magic" returns fell leadingly flat.

I went into MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM fully expecting to hate it, yet I was left pleasantly surprised by the experience. It utilises the backdrop and narrative of a children's film to explore themes of work, commitment, death, and loyalty, and it does so in an interesting way. The setting is a magical toy shop presided over by a delightful Dustin Hoffman, who steals all of his scenes especially compared to the lacklustre Natalie Portman. I was pleased that the film doesn't overly rely on aimless CGI effects; they are present and they do serve the story, but not at the expensive of the more important film elements. The story is sentimental without being sickeningly so, and it's even quite moving in places. It reminded me of the old-fashioned feel of WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) is the manager of the magical toy store Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and an apprentice to Mr. Edward Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). Molly was a promising composer but has since lost her confidence. Eric Applebaum is a friendless boy except for Molly and Mr. Magorium. Mr. Magorium hires accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) to get the accounts in order. He gives Molly a block of wood called Congreve and asks Henry to transfer the Emporium to her name.If I'm a kid, I would love this store. Kermit would drop by. It looks like a lot of fun and the movie spares no expense to make this CG heaven. I keep wondering what's the relationship of the store to the real world. Do adults remember the magic after they leave the store? It's odd that nobody seems to be surprised. The movie should explain the world more. Molly and Henry aren't actually that compelling. The character growth is easy. There isn't much of a story here.

Realizing that there are movie viewers out there that hate even a classic like "The Wizard of Oz", I fully expected to see some negative reviews for this film as well. I don't get where all the vitriol comes from. I certainly wouldn't put Mr. Magorium in Wizard of Oz territory, but for what it sets out to do it's a whimsical and fun picture. Those who fault it because certain elements don't work in their eyes, the Congreve Cube for example, need to lighten up a bit because the film never pretends to be a masterpiece of movie making. It's got a simple message of believing in one's self, with the magic that follows a result of one's effort, creativity and single mindedness. Dustin Hoffman is professional enough to pull off any kind of role, but since he had the lead here, I wonder how many reviewers would have had an entirely different opinion of the picture if Jim Carrey had the lead. I got a kick out of the way Jason Bateman's character 'just' took to his Mutant nickname, and Natalie Portman surprised with her range of emotion and an ability to turn on a dime when the situation called for it. The kid Zach Mills was pretty good too, I liked that scene when he was communicating with the Mutant behind the glass. All in all a fun film, very colorful, and a refreshing turn from most recent fare in it's appeal to all members of the family.