Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Promotional poster
Directed by	Zach Helm
Written by	Zach Helm
Produced by	Richard N. Gladstein James Garavente
Starring	Dustin Hoffman Natalie Portman Jason Bateman Zach Mills
Cinematography	Roman Osin
Edited by	Sabrina Pilsco
Music by	Alexandre Desplat Aaron Zigman
Production companies	Mandate Pictures Walden Media FilmColony
Distributed by	Fox-Walden (USA) Icon Film Distribution (UK)
Release dates	November 16, 2007 (US) December 28, 2007 (UK)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Zach Helm. The film stars Dustin Hoffman as the owner of a magical toy store, and Natalie Portman as his store employee.

List of chapters

1. "Molly Mahoney's First"
2. "No, Seriously, Watch"
3. "Fun and Mental is Fundamental"
4. "A Change of Heart...of Mind...of Pants"
5. "A New Beginning"
6. "You Have to Believe It to See It or Messing With the Mutant"

Plot

"What Molly Mahoney needed was the opportunity to prove she was something more than she believed." and so the story begins at "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" a toy shop run by the eccentric 243 year old Mr. Edward Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). Besides Mr. Magorium, the shop's employees include the manager of the store, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), who feels stuck in her life progress and tells Mr Magorium that she should probably get a more adult job, and the store bookmaker Bellini, a strongman. Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills) plays a boy who comes to the toy store regularly interacts with the adults and volunteers at the store acting at times like a part time employee.

The toy shop is magic. The toys have a life of their own. An over-sized ledger, known as the Big Book, can magically materialize any toy on command, and a doorknob, when rotated, can change the interior of a magic room. Mr. Magorium states that he imbued the shop with the same youthful characteristics of the children who visit it. Because of its similarity to children, the shop is also prone to temper tantrums.

Mr. Magorium suddenly announces he intends to "leave" and is giving the shop to Molly to providing her the means to move forward and become "unstuck" in life. When Mahoney expresses her upset and doubts about her ability to run the store, the store throws a tantrum and causing all the toys and its inner workings to go haywire ambushing the customers of all ages. In preparation for his departure, Mr. Magorium hires an accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), to organize the shop's paperwork and determine the monetary value of the store he will leave as a legacy to Mahoney.

Molly finally realizes that Mr. Magorium's leaving is not retirement but that he is going to die. Desperate to stop this, Molly rushes him to the hospital where after a little mischief, he is discharged the next day because there is "nothing physically wrong with him."

The congreve cube is a large block of wood given to Molly at the beginning of the movie by Mr. Magorium and told it would guide her to a new life and adventure if she has faith in it. After leaving the hospital, Mr. Magorium asks her how she is doing with the congreve cube. She states there is a million things she could do with a block of wood but she doesn't have a clue how to unlock the cube's secret. Mr. Magorium then tells her that there is a million things one could do with a block of wood, but what if someone just believed in the cube? What would happen then? Molly does not understand but attempts to prevent Mr. Magorium's departure by showing him the joys of life, but he has lived a full life and it is time for his story to end. "He dies.".

Believing herself to be unworthy and incapable of owning a magical store, Molly puts it up for sale with Henry's firm overseeing the sale. The store grieves and loses its magic. All the toys, walls, even the furniture lose their color becoming varying shades of gray and black. Molly meets Henry at the store to draw up the sale papers and he sees the congreve cube and asks her about it. When Molly confesses her complete faith in the store and the congreve cube's magical ability, the block suddenly springs to life, and proceeds to fly around the store. After witnessing this, Henry faints with shock. When he later awakes and questions Molly about it, she tells him that it must have been a dream as she went home the previous night, leaving him to finalize the paperwork for the sale.

Henry is not deterred as he knows Molly made the congreve cube fly and though she does not believe she can do magical and wonderful things, he believes in her. Henry realizes Molly is the congreve cube. The block of wood that can be anything she desires if she can somehow believe in herself. Henry's whole hearted belief in Molly ignites a tiny spark in her and for a second she believes. The store responds to her spark of belief and continues to respond as her confidence builds until the entire store magnificently transforms. The magic and color return to the toys and walls of the Wonder Emporium. Molly Mahoney's story has begun while Henry accepts the embrace of the store's magic itself. The opportunity to discover she is more than she imagined is here and who knows what amazing adventures she will have.

Cast

Major characters

• Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Edward Magorium, a toy impresario, a wonder aficionado, and an avid shoe wearer. He is loved by all, and has lived for over two centuries. He owns a pet zebra named Mortimer.
• Natalie Portman as Molly Mahoney, the Store Manager, and former child piano prodigy, who feels "stuck" in life and struggles with self-doubt.
• Jason Bateman as Henry Weston (aka "Mutant"), the straight-laced, rigid Accountant hired to get Mr. Magorium's paperwork and will in order. He does not believe in the shop's magic—until the end of the film.
• Zach Mills as Eric Applebaum, a 9 year old Hat Collector who has trouble making friends. He also narrates the beginning, the end, and introduces the chapters.
• Ted Ludzik as Bellini, the Bookbuilder who was born in the shop's basement. He also writes Mr. Magorium's biography. He looks like a circus strong-man with a big moustache that curls round at the end, he also has tattoos all down his arms.

Production

Filming started in late March 2006 and continued to June 6, 2006 in Toronto.

The movie was produced by FilmColony's Richard N. Gladstein and Gang of Two's James Garavente and financed by Walden Media.

According to an interview with Zach Helm on Regis and Kelly, the name of the shop’s proprietor was derived from Zach's cousin, New Jersey native Allen Magory. The phraseology "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" was commonly employed as a jest between Helm and Magory as kids, long before the writing of any screenplay.

A cameo as “just a shopper” in the emporium marked the first major theatrical appearance of Kermit the Frog since 1999's Muppets from Space.

Novelization

Main article: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (novel)

Reaction

The premiere of Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, attended by Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman, also doubled as a fundraising event with tickets having been made available to the public. Funds raised at the event were donated to the Barnardo's children's charity and other UK-based charities. The film was released in the United States and Canada on November 16, 2007 and grossed $9.6 million in 3,164 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #5 at the box office. It went on to gross $32.1 million in the U.S. and a further $35.4 million in the rest of the world which gives the film a total of box office return of $67.5 million.

Critical reception

The film received negative to mixed reviews from critics. As of July 12, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 119 reviews, with the consensus among negative critics that "colorful visuals and talented players can't make up for a bland story." On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 26 reviews. Peter Travers (of Rolling Stone) declared the film the year's Worst Family Film on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007. However, in recognition of the fact that it was "aimed directly at very young children" (along with the fact that the movie teaches children death), William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer observed its "unforced and exceedingly gentle humor, its imaginative but never-quite-excessive production design and its ingratiating and surprisingly detailed performances -- especially by Portman and Bateman -- gradually break down one's cynical defenses".

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 4, 2008.

External links

• Official site (no longer available) ()
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at IMDb
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at Metacritic
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at Box Office Mojo
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium at AllMovie