Perhaps thinking in pictures led Helm to clutter his screen with TMVI -- too much visual information.
Comment
11/15/07
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Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:120
Fresh:44
Rotten:76
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium's title is much more fun that the film itself, as the colorful visuals and talented players can't make up for a bland story.
Theatrical Release:Nov 16, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $31,920,538
Synopsis: In writer-director Zach Helm's whimsical 2007 film, MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM, veteran actor Dustin Hoffman plays the title character, a 243-year-old toy-store owner who is ready to pass his... [More]
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman, Zach Mills
Director: Zach Helm
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Reviews for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Top CriticVisually colorful but dramatically empty, "Mr. Magorium's Emporium" is too listless for words.
11/15/07
At its best, the movie makes you feel like a kindred spirit.
11/15/07
The movie means to approach the creepy wonder of Roald Dahl but gets only the creepy part right.
11/15/07
Top CriticThe film is very sweet -- in fact it represents the dawn of a new sport, Extreme Whimsy -- but it doesn't look or feel like most other kid-friendly Hollywood products that make it to market. When it counts this fable is surprisingly moving.
11/15/07
Top CriticMr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium truly does inspire wonder. As in, 'Wonder why they made this? Wonder what they were thinking?'
11/15/07
The walls of multiplex theaters may not shake and weep upon its departure, but as a holiday alternative for kids, OD'ing on Willy Wonka, you could do worse.
11/15/07
Top CriticEven kids who love stuffed animals and jumping on beds deserve more than Magorium has in stock.
11/15/07
Things grow tediously familiar.
11/15/07
Bland and soft-toned...very young children might enjoy a visit to Mr. Magorium's, but most everyone else will probably prefer a quick exit.
11/15/07
Magorium is not your average character, to say the least... Unfortunately, the film feels very average indeed.
11/15/07
Hoffman is like the circus clown everyone avoids.
11/15/07
A delightfully engaging character performance from Dustin Hoffman.
11/14/07
With his incessant cackling and jigging and adorable lisp, Hoffman is an unbearable force of nature, while Portman is disappointing as a young adult stuck in neutral.
11/14/07
Like something imagined by Turgenev during what would have been even for him one of his more bleak interludes.
11/14/07
The toys all have prankish lives of their own -- which could have been fun, in a Harry Potter meets Flubber sort of way, except that when you actually see the playthings, they don't look fun at all.
11/14/07
Top CriticUninspired despite its various attempts to find inspiration, Magorium is itself like a toy: Shiny, mystifying and completely expendable.
11/14/07
Suffers from an undeveloped script about as much as it benefits from a generous sense of whimsy.
11/14/07
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.
11/12/07
Top CriticGifted writer Helm (Stranger Than Fiction) makes a disappointing directing debut in a fantasy-fable that's occasionally charming but doesn't quite come to life as a truly magical fare, perhaps due to the high standards set by Tim Burton and company.
11/12/07
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