2008 Woodie Awards
'Magorium' a magic ride
by Brittney Hansen
Issue date: 12/6/07
Section: Movies
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If, on the other hand, this does sound like something that you might find even mildly amusing; then make sure to see "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" during the holiday season.
Magorium (Hoffman) is a "toy impresario, wonder aficionado, avid shoe-wearer" and a very animated chap with crazy hair and eyebrows reminiscent of Gene Wilder in "Willy Wonka." The candy-colored Emporium is filled with stuffed animals that come alive, mischievous bouncy-balls, mobiles made out of live fish and a zebra named Mortimer. Magorium is 243 years old and decides to will his toyshop to his reluctant and awkward apprentice Molly Mahoney (Portman) upon his "departure" from this world.
Mahoney is an aspiring composer determined to write her first concerto, if she could just find the inspiration. Once a promising piano protégé, Mahoney finds herself 23 years old and still working in a toy store. While she loves Mr. Magorium and the Emporium, it's not quite the life she expected to lead, so when Mr. Magorium runs out of shoes and decides it's time to "depart," she has her doubts about her ability to continue his legacy.
Told in a narrative style similar to Zach Helm's (writer/director) previous film, "Stranger than Fiction," the story is told through the big brown eyes of nine-year-old Eric (Zach Mills). Eric is a creative boy filled with curiosity, amazement and a different hat for every day, but he lacks some basic social skills. He is also probably the cutest little kid you have ever seen.
He tries to make a friend in the uptight accountant, instantly nicknamed "mutant," Henry, played by Jason Bateman. Henry, like many adults, has lost his sense of humor and has forgotten what it is like to be a kid. Eric reawakens Henry's inner child by challenging him to a game of checkers and showing him his extensive hat collection.
The toyshop, however, does not take very well to the exodus of Mr. Magorium, who has owned the Emporium for centuries. Throwing a "temper tantrum," letting loose lemurs and wild toys, covering customers in goo and fading to grayscale, the store protests the "departure." Likewise, Mahoney is unable to accept the end of Mr. Magorium and attempts to show him there is still magic left in the world, despite the fact that he has led a full life. Magorium reminds Mahoney and the viewer that where one story ends, another begins.
Hoffman is enchanting, Mills is adorable and Bateman is agreeable. Portman is the neurotic young woman you've come to expect her to be, but lacks that special "sparkle" this time around. At one point in the film, Eric tells her that all it takes is a little magic, to which she replies, "I know, I just don't have any," which is somewhat accurate. While her affection for the befuddled old man is believable, her relationship with the young boy is not, and you can tell she thinks some of her character's actions are a little ridiculous at times.
While not a serious film, it's a feel-good family movie filled with play-on-word humor. "Emporium" touches on the wonder of life, the certainty of death, the awe and innocence of a young child and is "something reflective of something bigger trying to get out."
THE GRADE: B
It's quirky, it's whimsical and it works.
Brittney Hansen is a Reporter staff writer
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