Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (16 November 2007)
directed by Zach Helm
starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Zach Mills, Jason Bateman, Ted Ludzik, Rebecca Northan
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MPAA rating: Studio: Mandate Pictures, FilmColony, Walden Media, Gang of Two Productions Script: Zach Helm Music: Alexandre Desplat, Aaron Zigman Running time: 93 minutes Tags: accountants; Comedy; composers; Family Film; hospitals; inheritance; magic; musicians; pianos; toy stores; wood; zebras Tactical strength: [5/10]
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Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) runs a magical toy store for several hundred years and has decided to die and pass the store along to his current manager, Molly Mahoney (Nataile Portman). As a child, Molly won all sorts of awards for playing the piano, but she has stopped performing because she cannot complete her own composition of a concerto. So Molly works at the toy store, where she does an excellent job but lacks the confidence to take over the store from Mr. Magorium. Molly tries several ploys to keep Mr. Magorium from leaving. First, she has him admitted to a hospital, apparently hoping the doctors will find something wrong and cure Mr. Magorium, but Mr. Magorium has perfect health. Next, she attempts to take Mr. Magorium on a tour of escapades (jumping on beds in a furniture store, setting all the clocks in a clock store to the same time, and dancing on bubble wrap in the park), hoping that by showing him what he will miss, he will decide to stay. Mr. Magorium tells Molly, "I have lived my life. Now you need to live yours." So we have plot problems one and two: Molly can't finish her concerto and she doesn't think she can run the store alone.
In spite of never needing an accountant in the past, Mr. Magorium decides he needs an accountant to somehow legitimize the transfer of the store to Molly. Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) arrives and fills the role of the non-believer. In spite of amazing things happening all around him as he works in the store, he never sees any of the magical events. So we have plot problem three: boring Henry needs to learn that all work and no play makes Henry a dull boy.
Next we have our narrator Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills), who spends all his time in Mr. Magorium's store. Eric completely accept the magic nature of the store, even more than Molly. When Molly has doubts and has Mr. Magorium admitted to the hospital, Eric arrives with a tote bag filled with all sorts of odd items, including a six-foot plank, a garden hose, and a euphonium. Eric displays the most well-balanced personality of the three main characters, but his mother worries that he doesn't have any friends. Eric complains that other kids call him weird and don't like to play with him. His mother insists that he make an attempt to make a friend, and Eric chooses Henry. Thus, plot problem four: Eric must put forth extra effort to make a friend.
Four major plot problems to solve in 90 minutes -- in addition to having sufficient time for the special effects that convince us that the store truly has magical properties. In a rated G movie, you know that all problems get resolved in a peaceful, politically correct, and non-violent manner, so I don't think it spoils the plot to discuss how the film fails to fully resolve the established problems. First, Molly has a musical breakthrough and finds the continuation of her stalled concerto. She clearly can now finish writing the music, but we have no idea about whether she resumes performing. Clearly, Molly will run the store, but that does not preclude her from resuming her professional piano performances. People expected great things from her, including Mr. Magorium, who told her that she should complete her concerto. We see Molly waving her arms about conducting the music of her concerto and applying the magic that brings the store back to live. Perhaps she must apply magic in her own way by creating music, but the film doesn't give any detailed resolution about what happens to her concerto or her performing career.
As you would expect, Eric and Henry become friends, and Eric's playful nature leads Henry to open himself up to pretending and using his imagination. We don't know what Henry will do now that the store has successfullytransferred ownership to Molly. The film doesn't introduce any sort of love interest between Henry and Molly, so Henry's place in the future of the store seem at best, unnecessary. And it almost seems a shame that Eric doesn't inherit the store, since he had already demonstrated that he had magical abilities far more advanced than Molly.
The plot also introduces elements that don't necessarily present a problem that needs a resolution, but, nevertheless, do not receive any resolution. In the basement of the toy store lives Bellini the Bookbuilder (Ted Ludzik). Mr. Magorium says that Bellini lived in the basement when Mr. Magorium acquired the store, and somehow Bellini took on the task of chronicling Mr. Magorium's life, to the extent that he has an entire shelf of journals labeled Magorium. A good closing scene would have shown Bellini finishing a page in a journal, and placing the journal on the shelf where we see the spine labeled Mahoney. This would have solidified Molly's place as the new, magical proprietor of the store. Instead, we see Bellini placing the last Magorium volume on the shelf. In another bit of unresolved suggestions, a stuffed monkey continually reaches out for Henry, but Henry doesn't notice the doll until the final scene where he has converted from his boring ways and can participate in the magic. You get the impression that, as a child, Henry once had a doll exactly like this one, and the doll wants to reconnect with a long lost friend, but Henry never really acknowledges the doll nor do we get any detail about why this particular doll has feelings for Henry.
The film tries to do to much in the short running time. Just resolving any one of the four major plot problems could have occupied the entire space of the film, and the resolutions we do get leave too many unanswered questions. Also, I found Molly's musical/magical breakthrough uninspiring. Her concerto wasn't particularly interesting and watching her wave her arms around for several minutes as the store drop's its mourning veil and resumes its happy, colorful existence looked silly after a minute and tedious as it continued. As light family entertainment, I liked Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Emotionally, the film works, but it left my analytical side wanting the answers to the questions the film itself raises.
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