“Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” had a whole lot of nothing going on, mixed with chaos. Yes, this movie made that possible.
Mr. Magorium’s is a magical toy store where toys come alive, paper airplanes fly forever, a magical door opens up to trains, hoops, and bouncing balls, and a magic inventory book that toys pop out of. The store is always packed with kids laughing and playing.
Mr. Magorium, played by Dustin Hoffman, is the 243-year-old owner of the store. But after 113 years, he decides that he is done. He decides that he is ready to die. A bit gloomy for a rated G movie, I know.
Hoffman’s performance made me cringe every time he was on the screen. His was one of the most embarrassing attempts at a Willy Wonka-type character yet. Yes, maybe even worse than Johnny Depp.
The slightly creepy quirkiness that proved Gene Wilder was an absolute genius just doesn’t come naturally to Hoffman. It all seemed so fake and forced that I was embarrassed for him.
Mr. Magorium turns to his delightful store manager, former piano prodigy Molly Mahoney, played by Natalie Portman, to be his predecessor, if she will accept it. Her performance was pretty heartfelt and cute, no big surprise there. She was fun to watch until the end, when I just wanted to reach out and punch her in the face so that she would stop her ridiculously long “let’s bring the store back to life” dance.
Mahoney feels that she is stuck in a rut and missing that certain sparkle that makes a person special. She is reluctant to accept Mr. Magorium’s departure and the store. She attempts to give Mr. Magorium the best day of his life to remind him of everything he will miss if he dies.
However, even her best attempts cannot convince Mr. Magorium to stay, which forces her to make the decision to keep the store or to grow up.
Fortunately, she is not alone in making her decision. Eric, played by Zach Mills, the lonely nine-year-old store clerk with a flare for hats, tries to convince her to keep the store open and to believe in it.
Before Mr. Magorium’s departure, he hires an “accounting mutant” (an accountant) to figure out the store’s worth. Henry, played by Jason Bateman, is sent over to try to make sense of 113 years worth of paper work. Henry, or Mutant as they call him, is a lonely grown-up who never has time to play; he doesn’t have time because he never stops working.
Bateman and Mills stole the movie. I cared more about them than Mr. Magorium. Eric tries to heed his mother’s advice to make a friend, and chooses Henry to be that friend. One of the only great scenes in the movie is when Eric tries to befriend the hard-working Henry by sending him notes through a window between the play area and the office. Eric says “hi” and asks Henry if he would like to play checkers, then Henry responds that he can’t because he’s working, and Eric asks if he would like to play after he is done working, to which Henry responds, “I never stop working.”
Overall, the colors were beautiful, Portman and Mills were cute, you don’t have to see Hoffman throughout the entire movie, and Bateman had some good scenes, even though he seems a little too clever to be in this predictable, gloomy, yet forcibly cutesy movie.
I don’t see whom this movie would appeal to. Perhaps 60+, I don’t know. I went with my five-year-old niece, and she took a nap during the film.