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Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
20th Century Fox


4.9

based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 45 votes
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MPAA RATING: G for General Audiences

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman

After inheriting Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, Molly Mahoney struggles to preserve the magic of the amazing toy store.

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Family/Kids \| Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	Zach Helm
DIRECTED BY:	Zach Helm
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 4, 2008 Theatrical: November 16, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	93 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

At its best, the movie makes you feel like a kindred spirit.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Twenty or 30 minutes into Mr. Magorium?s Wonder Emporium the urge to flee may rise within you like an oceanic tide. But stick with it. The film is very sweet--in fact it represents the dawn of a new sport, Extreme Whimsy.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Hoffman has countless characters inside of him, and this is one of his nicest.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It's not "The Wizard of Oz," and its cotton-candy fantasy of a story line is definitely aimed at very young children. But it's well made, and adults likely will find themselves yielding to its gentle, whimsical charm.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Helm gets huge bonus points for noticing everything that's annoying about modern children's films and including none of those things in his movie.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Kids will enjoy the experience overall: It's a little messy and undercooked, but still vastly more imaginative and entertaining than junk like "Fred Claus."

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Credit production designer Therese DePrez and set decorator Clive Thomasson for the marvelous setting, a charmed building with a life of its own.

TV Guide Ken Fox

This isn't your usual kiddie fare: Beneath the initial glare and blare is a quietly literate script by first-time writer-director Zach Helm that deals directly with big issues like believing in yourself and living on after a loved one passes away. But is it heavy? Not really.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Writer/director Zach Helm, who wrote "Stranger Than Fiction," achieves bursts of charm and whimsy, but not quite enough magic to elicit a consistent sense of wonderment.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Semi-wonderful at best.

Empire Olly Richards

Structurally it?s a bit ragtag, but, as your mum would say, it has its heart in the right place. For all its wilful oddness it?s enchanting, imaginative and genuinely moving.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

There's something a little annoying about a movie that tries this shamelessly to be endearing and family friendly.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

In this G-rated movie the effects are gee-whiz, with live giraffes amid the stuffed animals and bouncy balls so manic that they could use some Ritalin.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

While endearingly heartfelt and G-rated to boot, its storytelling suffers from a lack of locomotive force and characters that feel disappointingly two-dimensional.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

About a magical toy shop, but it has some of the sadder moments I've seen in a movie all year.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

There isn't anything terribly exciting or original on offer in the somewhat poky directing debut of screenwriter Zach Helm.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

If the concept is ingenious, its execution is erratic.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

It's hard to escape the feeling that what Zach Helm's directorial debut really wants to be is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." But where Roald Dahl's story was brilliantly eccentric and respectfully unsentimental, Helm's is heavy with strained zaniness and hazy morality.

Variety Brian Lowry

Sprinkles in charming moments but ultimately doesn't evoke enough wonderment to overcome its tongue-twisting title and completely win over adults along with kids.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Helm's pacing is as pallid as his palette is vivid, and for a movie that celebrates wonder and strangeness, the whole enterprise feels coy and half-baked.

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

For all its playful touches and neat-o nostalgia for nondigital entertainment, the whimsy feels forced.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

The idea of a toy store as a living, responsive being is a good one, but Helm doesn't take that idea to imaginative places.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

The film?s one saving grace is Bateman, the only actor on set who seems unwilling to give himself over to Magorium?s philosophy that the key to a fulfilling life can only be found in pathological regression. Maybe he just needs more whimsy in his life.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The movie, directed (and written) by Zach Helm in grotesquely bright colors, means to approach the creepy wonder of Roald Dahl but gets only the creepy part right.

Premiere Laura Repstad

For a movie built around a brightly-colored, magical toy store, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is surprisingly forgettable. In fact, it's most wondrous feat is just how it manages to waste good actors and fine performances.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Mr. Magorium, who is 243 years old (so are his jokes), is a cross between Willy Wonka and Geppetto, but Hoffman plays him with little more than a goofy dumb lisp, achieved by tucking his lower lip under his upper teeth, so that he looks just as rabbity-stoopid as he sounds.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.9 (out of 10) based on 45 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jeanine T. gave it a9:
First viewing - that was fun. 2nd viewing - Hey, there's more to this than I realized. 3rd viewing - Ah-ha! This is like " The Little Prince." It appears simple but has much deeper messages in it. 4th viewing - I want to finish what this story started! A great story. Great acting. Great potential for a sequel. It's a keeper.

Michael B. gave it a10:
This magical movie with natalie portman and dustin hoffman was great!

Caithlin O. gave it a10:
I thought the movie was wonderful. Some of the diaglogue was super. "Your life is an occassion. Rise to it." Is a great line. I thought Hoffman did a great job of acting. I have watched the movie 6 times on pfv. I see something different each time. Molly's finding her muse to complete her concerto at the end ties the movie together . Now she can still be a part of the magic in the store and feel the muse within herself to create more music. . I am sorry others did not see what I see in the movie. But then not everyone has to agree.

K R gave it a9:
I thought this movie was both charming and half-way to hilarious.It's everlasting message is easy to understand, yet sinks to a depth in your heart that you are forced to reflect on your own life. And, of course, who could forget that adorable little sock monkey(who only wanted a hug)?! Before I close this statement, I ask the world(or those of it reading this): Why can't we all be just a bit more like Mr.Magorium?Overall, i enjoyed this film immensely, and plan on watching it again :)

Chad S. gave it a3:
Even in the movies where anything is possible, laying down a bubblewrap dancefloor as a preventive measure against suicidal tendencies doesn't work, much to Molly's dismay as Mr. Magorium(Dustin Hoffman) pops, pops, pops away; happier, but still harboring a death wish underneath all that crazy hair. Like his character in "Rainman", Mr. Magorium is a one-note performance, but this time Hoffman doesn't delight, he grates on our ears. That lisp, in concert with the toymaker's whimsical outlook on life, doesn't out-crazy Gene Wilder's performance in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", but it comes close. Before his rapture for one, Mr. Magorium wants Molly(Natalie Portman) to run the toy store. His charge used to be a promising pianist, but this film contends that the music of life is a higher calling, which makes "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" a sort of evil "Mr. Holland's Opus". Despite the happy ending, the film never resolves Molly's dream of being a famous composer. She's the hero. She brings the toy store back to life. But Molly is only a conduit for that block of wood Mr. Magorium entrusted to her. Now Molly's post-graduate rut is official: She's never leaving Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Billy S. gave it a2:
Where is the wonder?

Jared C. gave it a5:
Soon to be a futuristic classic, Mr. Magorium's Woner Emporium justifies what a true famile/fantasy should be. But unexpectedly punches you in the mouth half way point with a comeplete letdown. Its a classic in the type of a way that Sleuth's a classic, but still doesn't reach a good enough standard to be a Zach Helm masterpiece.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium 20th Century Fox

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
20th Century Fox