Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium **

Directed by Zach Helm
Written by Zach Helm

Starring:
Natalie Portman as Molly Mahoney, the Composer
Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Edward Magorium, Avid Shoe-Wearer
Zach Mills as Eric Applebaum, the Hat Collector
Ted Ludzik as Bellini, the Bookbuilder
Jason Bateman as Henry Weston, the Mutant

94 Minutes(Rated G)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is the directing debut of Zach Helm. If that name sounds a little familiar, its because he wrote one of my favorite films of 2006 (in the Number 10 spot, thank you very much) "Stranger Than Fiction." It pains me to say that "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is a step down from that wonderful and extremely imaginative work, but it is a good effort, and similar to "He Was A Quiet Man," it is a film with good ideas that is a little blase in execution. It does please me to say that Helm does indeed have one of the most creative minds in recent memory-and this film reminded me of children's movies of old-before everything became animated and filled with sly in-jokes for the adults. This is a kids movie in the tradition of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" and even a little seen gem from the 60's called "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T." Imaginative, wild, wacky, and at times it even doesn't make much sense-but its all tied into the saying that "anything is possible."

Dustin Hoffman dons thick eye brows and has a lisp for his title character, Mr. Magorium, who owns the most magical toy store in the world. 253 years old, and running the store for 113, Magorium plans to give the store to his store manager, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), but first hires an accountant named Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), to go over the books and make sure everything is settled. Magorium is leaving the world-his main reason is because he ran out of the Italian crafted shoes that he bought a lifetime supply of-but Molly is going through a crisis of her own. On the side she enjoys playing the piano, but is stuck at composing her first piece. And when she learns that she is next in line to get the store, she becomes confused about what she wants in her life.

The movie is pretty low on plot, and mostly focuses on the more zany and quirky events of the store itself, what should have been the most interesting character in the piece. But Helm gets a little confused at what he wants to focus on more, and sadly much of the film ends up focusing on young Eric Applebaum, a lonely boy who spends most of his time in the store to account for the fact that he doesn't have any friends. The character is a bit of a cliche, even as far as children's movies are concerned, and I wish more time was spent about Magorium himself. The guy is 253 years old-think of the stories HE could tell. And yet, Dustin Hoffman almost becomes a footnote in the whole piece, in the movie almost as long as it takes to say the full title of the film itself. And a Kermit the Frog cameo was almost a bit shameless, and extremely unneeded.

I can see the imagination and the creativity behind "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," but the whole thing could have been a lot better with the mind behind it. I want to know more about Magorium's history, even more about his relationship with the Portman character. Less on the little kid-despite it actually giving the intended audience something to relate to and care about. But there is something more interesting here, between the lines-but for the most part, despite toys coming to life and color everywhere, the film falls flat one too many time, and sadly "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is nothing more than a mediocre kid's flick.