Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

The film is directed by the newcomer Zach Helm, and stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman.

The film is set in modern day at the very interesting shop of “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”. This shop is a magical toy store where nothing is run by any form of logic. It is owned and operated by the “Avid Shoe-Wearer” Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). The store’s manager, “the Composer” Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), is a young pianist who just can’t seem to finish her masterpiece that the world has been expecting from her since she first put fingertip to key. Mr. Magorium has decided that after over two centuries off operating his store, that he would like to know exactly how much the shop is worth. Mr. Magorium therefore decides to hire an accountant, “The Mutant” Henry Weston (Jason Bateman). This is where we come in and begin to enjoy this world of childish magic.

The first thing I must say is that firstly this movie is really meant for those five years old and younger, or those who are mentally equivalent to a five year old. However it has many good points. Firstly, I think that Dustin Hoffman did a great job portraying this character of Mr. Magorium, an 240+ year old child who still plays with bouncy balls and races the children in his stores, and they did a great job of casting Natalie Portman for the store manager, because she seems to play the playful child/adult manager so easily, she seemed to fit in this magical fantabolistic toy store that only a five year old could fall in love with. But to tell the truth the real winner in the acting department has to be the store, it had all the elements it needed, that if you looked at it from across the street you would say to yourself that it’s just another store, but when you walk in your just attacked by colours and atmosphere that would change the oldest and most mature person into a five year old again (and yes I realise I’ve used that age like twenty times so far… who cares???). The store could look logical but at the same time with Magorium added all logic is thrown out the window. So if your into kiddy movies that make you want to be five years old again, this may be for you.

The direction wasn’t anything special. The movie spent its time focussing on the store and its characters, Molly, Mr. Magorium, Henry, and Eric, rather than being a movie where you start to think, “Woah!!! The director really thought of holding the camera like that!!! NICE!!!”. No it decided to just imagine you were one of the children playing with fingerpaint, or being read a story. So you never felt like you were watching, but more like you were being involved, which I think is the biggest compliment you should be able to give a director, because that is how these type of movies should be, it should be an experience not just a visual splendor.

So… when we get down to brass tax, the acting was good, the casting was better, the direction was exactly what was required, and the characters was what made the movie. However, I doubt if you are not into these kinds of movies and older than five years old, don’t even try, you will think it as a waste of time.

IMDB says 6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes says 34%
I say (for adults 5.0/10 ) (for five year olds 7.0/10)