Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills), the hat collector, is known as a strange kid and has trouble with making friends. Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), an accountant, which is a cross between a counter and a mutant, is a stiff grown-up who doesn't really believe in magic. But when Mr. Magorium, the 243 year-old eccentric who owns the store (Dustin Hoffman), bequeaths the store to her, everyone takes the news pretty hard but the store seems to take it the hardest. Hilarity ensues as a dark and ominous change begins to take over the once remarkable Emporium.
Trivia: Dustin Hoffman went to Santa Monica City College where he dropped out after a year due to bad grades. But before he did, he took an acting course because he was told that "nobody flunks acting." Natalie Portman was discovered in a pizza parlor and was originally turned down for the role of Mathilda in Leon (1994) because she was too young.
First let me start off saying that I know this movie is meant for young children. It is definitely a family movie. The actor is solid but predictable. Nobody went out of their way to produce an Oscar caliber performance, but the movie didn't need it. There were solid performances all around. Natalie Portman was charming and quirky. She plays a piano and her music is utterly charming. Zach Mills played a steady young man. Jason Batemen was good as the Mutant. The toy store is the real star of the movie as the toys come alive and the store really seems to love playing with the children who come to visit it. And then there was Dustin Hoffman. How do you play an eccentric 243 year old magical toy mogul. Well, you fluff your hair around and talk in a funny loopy voice. It did get grating after a while. But then again, I am really not the target audience for this movie. If you have young kids, this will be a great movie for them. If you have older kids, you might want to think about it.
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14 years ago
3 comments:
Interesting. It looks like a fun movie. I think we're going to go see The Golden Compass this afternoon. Have you seen it yet?
No, I haven't yet.
We did go see it as I said. All I can say is "eh". I think we're too spoiled by other fantasy films like Narnia, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings. It just seemed to be a feeble attempt to be all of these movies rolled up into one. And...have I mentioned how I can't stand Nicole Kidman?
Don't get me wrong. There were some pretty awesome scenes going on, I loved the "demons" of every person, but the story line, the constant view of cute little girl's face all tragic like instead of any idea of acting, got annoying.
Plus, there is one point in the movie where the entire theater went Oooooooo, and I went, this is a kids movie? You should have heard the buzz. OK, now I can't wait for your review of it.
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