Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Widescreen Edition) | Dustin Hoffman

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Widescreen Edition) | Dustin Hoffman | A very pleasant film

DVDs:

Mr. Magorium's Won...

	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Widescreen Edition) Dustin Hoffman 20th Century Fox, 2008 average customer review:based on 63 reviews view larger image
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Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) owns and runs the most magical store in the universe where all of the toys for sale are alive. But when the aging shopkeeper decides to retire and sell the business to his faithful cashier (Natalie Portman) he hires an uptight accountant (Jason Bateman) to get his affairs in order.System Requirements:Running Time: 94 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: G UPC: 024543504924 Manufacturer No: 2250492

Whimsical movie for the kids, deeper meanings for adults

This was an interesting movie. The main character has a whimsy that reminded me of Robin Williams in Toys. Dustin Hoffman was absolutely brilliant. The kids enjoyed the whimsy of the living toy store. I enjoyed the deeper exploration of death and letting go. It was both fun and touching.

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A very pleasant film

It's extremely hard to find a live action movie these days that is rated G. The story is simple, Mr. Magorium feels it's time to move on and needs to find someone to take over his magical store. The film is full of fabulous color and playfull wimzy that I found to be a breath of fresh air.

LACKS THE MAGIC OF WONKA

Take Willy Wonka out of the chocolate factory and put him in a toy story and you essentially have Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Like Wonka, Mr. Magorium (Hoffman) is a playful eccentric with wild hair, and a penchant for bizarre behavior. His old world story is nestled between high rise building and it's no wonder as he has owned the store for over 200 years. Toys virtually come to life inside the store, playing with the customers as much as they play with the. The store has an inter-dimensional quality to it as a certain door can lead to different rooms with the turn of a dial on the wall. The large, dusty store catalog can materialize its toys from thin air just by turning its pages.

Molly Mahoney (Portman) is the store manager and we learn immediately that while she loves working there, she feels incomplete for having never pursued her dream to be a concert pianist. This is underscored when a former college classmate comments that he didn't know that she was still working at the store. For shy 9-year-old Eric, the store is a sanctuary as he has no friends his age. Because Mr. Magorium has never kept book or paid taxes (sure, like the IRS would let him get away with that for 200 years!) he hires accountant Henry Weston (Bateman) to get the books in order.

Magorium startles Molly by announcing that his time in the world is up and he intends to leave the store to her. Molly refuses to believe that's he's going to die and turns down the offer. This causes the store to lose all its magic. Its bright red walls turn black and the toys are now lifeless. Henry and Eric have to convince Molly that she has to take over the store in order to save it.

Again, the parallels with Wonka are many, even down to the owner needing to find someone younger to take over. However, while Wonka was laced with often biting commentary about the behavior of spoiled kids and their parents, Magorium has none of this conflict. Henry's unresolved issues about having friends his age remain unresolved. Molly's dreams of becoming a pianist are tossed aside. Only Henry gets to grow, realizing that he cannot be all work and no play.

The film does have some nice special effects that bring the wonder and magic of the store alive but there's not much magic in the predictable and unsatisfying script. It's riddled with clichés which try to force the viewer into knowing when to laugh and cry and be overjoyed. On the plus side it's a film most kids, especially younger kids will adore and it is good, clean family entertainment.

Extras

The DVD does come with several featurettes:

Strangely Weird and Weirdly Strange: The Magical World Of A Wonder Emporium

An Eccentric Boss And An Awkward Apprentice

To Meet Eric Applebaum, Start By Saying Hi

The Magical Toy Store Featurette

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Oh my goodness, this is sad!

I didn't realize quite how sad it was, but my 9 year old daughter and I were sobbing. Over than that, it's a sweet movie, but not as magical as I expected.

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