Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Year: 2007
Director: Zach Helm
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman, Zach Mills

I'm a huge fan of Natalie Portman. I admit it. She's gorgeous, talented and mesmerising on screen. Recently on Empire magazine's top 100 sexiest stars, she got 2nd place, losing to the overrated Angelina Jolie. Bah! Well, anyway she's the main reason why I went to watch Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

This film starts with a narration by a supporting character, a young boy named Eric (Zach Mills). Eric happens to be a helper down at the magical toy store owned by Mr Edward Magorium (Dustin Hoffman), an eccentric yet lovable 243 year old genius. The store is managed by a young girl, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), who aspires to be a great pianist / songwriter, but is too insecure to see the sparkle within herself.

So why is this toy store magical? Well, for one thing, the store itself is alive! Toys fly around by themselves, rooms switch into different ones by a turn of a knob and there's a big book that can make a specific toy materialise by request. It's no wonder that the store is filled with children every day.

One day, Magorium hires an accountant, Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) to value the store. Why? Because he's leaving. Magorium tells Molly that he's going to die (which in this context, is a strange word to use) and he's leaving the store in her care. Molly doesn't like the idea, for she has no intention of taking over it. Worst of all, the store itself hates the idea and starts to throw a tantrum and misbehave. Yeah, you heard me right. Anyway, when Magorium eventually departs, the store goes haywire and the magic vanishes from it.

Eric, who loves the store more than he would love people, attempts to save it. He enlists Henry's help, but it proves to be hard to convince the skeptical accountant of the store's magic. But eventually, Eric and Henry begin a wonderful friendship, and together they try to inspire Molly to take control of the magic emporium.

On the surface, Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a lot like Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Magical building, eccentric owner, wonder kid etc. We even have a grown up version of the latter film's Mike Teavee in Henry Weston, but thankfully he doesn't have the smarty alecky attitude. In fact, Bateman does a pretty good job as Weston, whom everyone refers to as a mutant (Magorium calls him a cross between a counter and a mutant, so that explains it). The deadpan mannerisms Bateman brings to the film is perfect, and he gets more to do here than in his last film The Kingdom.

Mills also scores as the weird kid Eric, with his constant wide eyed expressions. There's one strange kid in every film like this, I know. But Eric is one of a kind. Hoffman is also fun to watch, playing Magorium as a kid trapped in a old man's body, yet possessing the wisdom befitting his age. Portman does well as Molly, but in some scenes, I somehow noticed her trying hard to believe in her character's faith in the magical store. Perhaps Portman is a little too old to play the teenage Molly, and the uninspiring haircut doesn't help much.

Director Zach Helm, who is still new at directing, doesn't quite succeed in making this film appealing to all ages. Sure, the kids would love it. But adults need to have something in it that would make them laugh and cheer and maybe even smile. It's magical, but it doesn't quite engage the audience and carry them onto the adventure that the film could have been. The simple ending also doesn't help matters.

It's a good attempt by a first time director, but there is much room for improvement here. An average film. And not one of Portman's best work. (3/5)