Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

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Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium ★★ 2007 (G)

Mr. Magorium (Hoffman) is the ageless owner of a magic toy store who's gearing up to retire and wants to turn the store over to his manager Mahoney (Portman), who dreams of being a classical pianist. In the meantime, he hires uptight accountant Henry (Bateman) to assess the value of the store (and perhaps find a little magic in himself). An unapologetically whimsical family movie, it has occasional charming moments but mostly leans on its far superior influences (“Pee-Wee's Big Adventure” and “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” to name a few) for inspiration, and much of the fairy-tale feel seems forced and unoriginal. 94m/C DVD . US Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman, Zach Mills; D: Zach Helm; W: Zach Helm; C: Roman Osin; M: Aaron Zigman, Alexandre Sesplat.