Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Filmmaker Zach Helm's whimsical but slimly plotted fantasy offers decent family fare, with Dustin Hoffman well cast as eccentric Mr. Magorium, the 243-year-old proprietor of the world's greatest magical toy store. Convinced that he's not long—or, rather, much longer—for this world, Mr. M decides to bequeath the shop to its manager, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), a once-promising child prodigy pianist desperately trying to complete a concerto. Also hanging around the Emporium are geeky, troublemaking youngster Eric (Zach Mills) and skeptical adult Henry (Jason Bateman), an accountant whom Magorium has hired to put his finances in order. Of course, enchanted toys being somewhat difficult to control, Molly will end up having her hands full. Portman and Hoffman (with teased hair, bushy eyebrows, and silly voice) both have fun with their roles, while the Emporium's colorful design and elaborate toys offer testament to an imaginative conceptual sense—unfortunately, however, the fluffy story rarely lives up to either its characters or its trappings. Optional. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include “The Magical Toy Store” and “Strangely Weird and Weirdly Strange: The Magical World of a Wonder Emporium” behind-the-scenes featurettes (15 min. total), “An Eccentric Boss and an Awkward Apprentice” featurette on costars Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman (7 min.), “To Meet Eric Applebaum, Start By Saying Hi” character featurette (7 min.), “Fun on the Set” outtakes (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a stylish but disappointing film.] (E. Hulse)