Scan and Pan
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) works in a magical toy store owned by the whimsical 243-year-old Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). When Mr. Magorium believes his long life is coming to an end, he decides to leave his store in the care of Molly, despite her nagging self-doubts about her abilities. With the help of a young boy (Zach Mills) and a practical-minded accountant (Jason Bateman), can she come to believe in herself and succeed as the new owner of the Wonder Emporium?
Writer/director Zach Helm (writer of Stranger Than Fiction) makes his directorial debut with a light fantasy that's certainly a colorful production with a whimsical sensibility, but it lacks a certain magical spark. The story offers too slender of a plot and at times is simply bland, while Helm's direction is competent enough but lacks the imagination that the concept demands. I also felt like I'd walked in on the middle of the story with some essential character development missing, especially for Molly.
The lighting of cinematographer Roman Osin (Pride & Prejudice) is uninteresting and far too mundane to conjure up a magical mood. However, production designer Thérèse DePrez (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) provides eye candy in the form of a magnificently eccentric toy store, while the store's living toys are believably brought to life by CGI effects.
Make no mistake about it, this is Hoffman's film. He's wonderful as an eccentric old toy store proprietor, a Willy Wonka of toys instead of candy. The film is always at its best when he's on screen and working his acting mojo. Mills delivers a winsome performance as the shy but wise beyond his years young boy, but Portman's performance as Molly is just flat. Bateman is well-cast as a buttoned-down accountant who stubbornly refuses to see the magic around him. There's also an amusing cameo by Kermit the Frog, performed and voiced by Steve Whitmire.
What an audience expects from a film with an imaginative title like Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is to be amazed and charmed. While it may not succeed at that, it's an inoffensive family film with some entertainment value that might be worth watching on DVD.
[2.5 out of 5 stars]
This is one of those films that probably sounded better on paper, but there's just something lacking in its translation to the cinema screen.
Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) works in a magical toy store owned by the whimsical 243-year-old Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). When Mr. Magorium believes his long life is coming to an end, he decides to leave his store in the care of Molly, despite her nagging self-doubts about her abilities. With the help of a young boy (Zach Mills) and a practical-minded accountant (Jason Bateman), can she come to believe in herself and succeed as the new owner of the Wonder Emporium?
Writer/director Zach Helm (writer of Stranger Than Fiction) makes his directorial debut with a light fantasy that's certainly a colorful production with a whimsical sensibility, but it lacks a certain magical spark. The story offers too slender of a plot and at times is simply bland, while Helm's direction is competent enough but lacks the imagination that the concept demands. I also felt like I'd walked in on the middle of the story with some essential character development missing, especially for Molly.
The lighting of cinematographer Roman Osin (Pride & Prejudice) is uninteresting and far too mundane to conjure up a magical mood. However, production designer Thérèse DePrez (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) provides eye candy in the form of a magnificently eccentric toy store, while the store's living toys are believably brought to life by CGI effects.
Make no mistake about it, this is Hoffman's film. He's wonderful as an eccentric old toy store proprietor, a Willy Wonka of toys instead of candy. The film is always at its best when he's on screen and working his acting mojo. Mills delivers a winsome performance as the shy but wise beyond his years young boy, but Portman's performance as Molly is just flat. Bateman is well-cast as a buttoned-down accountant who stubbornly refuses to see the magic around him. There's also an amusing cameo by Kermit the Frog, performed and voiced by Steve Whitmire.
What an audience expects from a film with an imaginative title like Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is to be amazed and charmed. While it may not succeed at that, it's an inoffensive family film with some entertainment value that might be worth watching on DVD.
[2.5 out of 5 stars]
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