Review of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007) by Elizabeth E — 08 Jun 2012

I must, respectfully, disagree with, well, most of the world I suppose... not the first time, but there you are. I'm an adult, more or less, and while I did feel the "heart-warming" side of "Mr. Magorium" to be somewhat heavy handed, I actually bought into the whimsy so many others say passed them by.

Hoffman is brilliant in this role, resisting steadfastly the script's tendency towards melancholy, and Batemen as "Mutant" is as bland as the character should be (playing to type, I'm inclined to believe). Portman does play into the sappy nature of the story, but is balanced by the young Zach Mills' matter-of-fact attitude towards the fantastical. And the production design work is simply fantastic.

Heavy handed, clumsy, overly sentimental? Yeah, perhaps. But why not? That's what it is, after all.

That's what it is.