Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)

I would just like to say that it is rare in this day and age for a theater audience to stand and applaud at the end of a movie. That is exactly what happened when I saw Mr. Magorium.

It is also rare for a movie to captivate, not only myself and my wife, but my 13 year old, 10 year old and especially my 4 year old all at the same time.

It was a truly magical movie. Dustin Hoffman was brilliant and brought the charm of Mr. Magorium to life; a performance matched only perhaps by that of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.

To those who suggest this is a child's movie. They are correct. It is for children...of all ages.

This is a terrific family movie that is suitable for children of all ages. There are, to a degree, some parallels with Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory [HD DVD]. However, for the most part it is its own movie. It centers around a man (played by Dustin Hoffman) who wishes to leave the management / ownership of his magical toy store to his favorite employee (portrayed by Natalie Portman) as he can sense that his end is near. Unfortunately, Portman's character is apprehensive about taking over the toy store, mostly stemming from a lack of self-confidence.

To be sure, many will say that this film is predictable, and so it is. However, the people who criticize it on such grounds are, I believe, missing the point. Granted, there are no real "hooks" in the plot or plot-twists that will keep you guessing. So what? In a movie like this, it really doesn't matter. At base, to me the film is not so much about the story itself as it is about how we all used to look upon the world with such a sense of wonder when we were children. People who are only looking for surprises are not prone to "getting it" insofar as this DVD is concerned.

The casting is terrific with Hoffmann and Portman leading the way. Hoffmann gets his chance to play a sort of pseudo-Santa Clause, and it's evident that he enjoyed himself immensely. I've always like Portman, and it's nice to see a young woman who is both a fine actress as well as a great person. She is kind of the antipode to "bad girls" like Lindsay Lohan.

If you are the parent of small children, I'd highly recommend this film. If you're not a parent of small children but enjoy feeling like a kid again, this one is recommended to an equal degree.

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A breath of fresh air of a family movie. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is simple in its storytelling about believing in your self, finding the magic in your life. It is an enchanting movie; entertaining without the typical hper-action, potty/burping humor or street-smart smack talk so overdone in every other "family" movie these days.

Charming. Brilliantly understated acting; not over the top in any way, no sterotypical characterizations. Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and child actor Zach Mills played true to their characters, filled with wonder, believable. I can only imagine that the movie's negative reviews are based on reviewers having preconcieved ideas of what they "thought" the movie would be like. This is a simple Willy Wonka-esque story, 90 minutes of enchanting entertainment without hype or preachiness. Slow down and enjoy it!

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[Mild spoilers in this review:]

This is a unique movie. The plot is relatively simple Toy Store Owner prepares his assistant to take over the business. There is no villain in the form of a character. I suppose the "villain," or conflict in the plot, is "lack of imagination." This is initially personified in the form of a dry, by-the-books accountant, however this character is by no means the villain in this story. "Lack of imagination" is the force opposing Mr. Magorium and his whimsical store.

I suspect that mainstream America and the critics didn't respond favorably to this movie for two reasons: marketing this movie was difficult; and much of mainstream America and the critics are guilty of exhibiting the same element that served as the conflict in the movie: "lack of imagination."

For example, in one scene, the witless accountant finally gives in to others' use of imagination and tries being imaginative himself by wearing silly hats and pretending to be someone else. He and a young boy act out fairy tale stories and let their imagination run wild. The boy's mother discovers them and is immediately suspicious of the accountant's intentions. It's as if the movie is commenting on some people that perhaps don't "get it." Additionally, as if life were imitating art, there were some people that didn't "get" this movie.

My family (with two kids aged 6 and 3) thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and we could comfortably watch it without fear of "toilet gags" and without anxiety of seeing crude/vulgar moments. And this movie also effectively addressed the potentially disturbing subject of "death." I liked the approach here.

Like the characters in the movie, give Mr. Magorium a chance. And let your imagination flow with the movie.

Favorite line: "Light bulbs die. I am departing."

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Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium champions classic toys and the stores that used to carry them before the proliferation of chain stores like Toys R Us and Wal-Mart made them virtually extinct. In this age of crass commercialism, this film celebrates idealism and imagination things that our world so desperately needs.

Dustin Hoffman portrays Magorium as an optimistic Willy Wonka-type who is a genius toy maker and has a pet zebra in his home. He runs a magical toy store complete with an enormous book that lists the store's entire inventory and going to the appropriate page magically produces said toy. Each character has their own dilemma to resolve: Eric has to make a friend; Henry has to learn how to have fun, and Molly's desire to create music instead of running the Emporium. The cast is uniformly excellent, from Natalie Portman's engaging turn as Molly to Jason Bateman as the button-down accountant.

There is an absolutely charming scene where Henry and Eric communicate on opposite sides of a pane of glass via handwritten messages to the Cat Stevens' song, "Don't Be Shy" that demonstrates director Zach Helm's skill a visual storyteller. It was at this moment that I wondered if he is a fan of Hal Ashby's films as this song was used prominently in Harold and Maude. This hunch was confirmed with Ashby's surname popping up in a scene as a store name. It is these little touches, like the nervous slinky or the gigantic dodge ball that fills an entire room or Magorium's hospital room at night decorated with many glow-in-the-dark stars, that make this film such a joy to watch.

He adopts a vibrant colour scheme with the larger shocks of colour being primary in nature and then the smaller details (toys and clothes) comprised of secondary and tertiary colours. For example, the hospital that Magorium stays in is dominated by golden yellows while warm, brown wood dominates the Emporium. The entire film is like a giant box of Crayola crayons exploded all over it.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is not at all what I expected it to be (to be honest, I had little to no expectations) and was pleasantly surprised by how charming and imaginative this film turned out to be. It makes a convincing argument for keeping magic and wonderment alive. So often we grow up and either lose or ignore these feelings. There's more to life than dollars and sense. Mr. Magorium is a wonderful film that appeals to your heart without being so obviously manipulative and celebrates imagination over conformity. It also appeals to children with condescending to them and to adults who haven't forgotten what it's like to be a kid.

"Strangely Weird and Weirdly Strange: The Magical World of a Wonder Emporium" is comprised of four featurettes that take brief looks at various aspects of the film. The first one features cast and crew praising director Zach Helm. Another takes a look at how the Sock Monkey puppet works. We also see how the production dealt with an actual zebra on the set. Finally, we see how the life-sized sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln was made entirely out of Lincoln Logs.

"An Eccentric Boss and An Awkward Apprentice" takes a look at the characters of Mr. Magorium and Molly Mahoney. Not surprisingly, the actors were drawn to the project because of the well-written script. Cast and crew speak highly of Hoffman and Portman. The two actors describe their characters.

"To Meet Eric Applebaum, Start by Saying Hi" takes a look at Eric and the actor who plays him, Zach Mills. Like the previous featurette, the character is described and the actor is praised. He was picked out of 1,200 other kids.

"The Magical Toy Store" examines the fantastic set that was the toy store. Helm and the production designer worked together to create a big playground for kids. They wanted to create the impression that the store really existed. There's also footage of this set being constructed.

Finally, there is "Fun on the Set," a montage of the cast and crew goofing around on and off the set.

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