Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

NEW YORK (CNS) -- "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" (Walden/Mandate/Fox) is a wholesome, well-meaning but ultimately only moderately charming tale about a magical toy store run by 243-year-old eccentric Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) and his young apprentice, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), with a frequent unofficial assist from 9-year-old Eric Applebaum (Zach Mills).

Mahoney, as she's mostly called, regrets her unfulfilled promise as a concert pianist, but shows easygoing skill as the store's manager.

Eric is a solitary but brilliant child whose mother urges him to overcome his diffidence in approaching other people. He takes her advice to deal not with someone his own age, but rather with buttoned-up accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman), nicknamed "Mutant" by Magorium, who needs to assess the store's value before his demise.

Almost from the start, Magorium has dropped large hints about "leaving" the shop, in the sense that he's going to die. He plans to bequeath it to Mahoney, who feels she's scarcely qualified.

The shop itself has already gone into premature mourning, and the magical elements of the toys have begun to fade, the shop's walls corroding and the colors gradually fading.

Mahoney adamantly resists the notion of succeeding him. Will she or won't she? Will the uptight Henry finally loosen up? Can the store be brought back to magical life?

Despite Therese DePerz's colorful production design, and appealing touches here and there, there are too many holes in writer-director Zach Helm's basic premise even for this sort of fantasy.

Why does Mr. Magorium need to die? "Because it's his time" seems a forced conceit. What's the point of Mahoney's frustrated career as a concert pianist coming to naught, even as she proves herself a capable store manager? Doesn't young Eric ever go to school? Why does the expected attraction between Mahoney and Henry never blossom into a satisfying romance? How is it that the friendless Eric essentially remains that way throughout the film, except for bonding with Henry? And why does a pivotal scene near the end turn out to be a mere dream, when the person involved wasn't even sleeping?

Alexandre Desplat's music is a plus; the lively opening credits and production design are appropriately colorful, even if the magical effects within the store are not as remarkable as they should be.

Hoffman's wild-haired toymaker seems to be channeling Ed Wynn, the beloved veteran comedian of yore. Portman, sporting a boyish cut, has an appealing demeanor, but her character's fairly passive. Bateman's character remains fairly stiff, though when he smiles at Eric through his glass partition, or briefly playacts as a court jester, his character becomes more appealing.

Magorium's eventual death (lightly handled) and the shop's subsequent total transformation into funereal black may be too downbeat for very young viewers even as it seems to demystify death.

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Still, for all its deficiencies -- the themes of "believing in yourself" and "finding the magic within" have been done better elsewhere -- this is admirably clean, recommendable family entertainment.

The film contains an ambiguous remark about the afterlife. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. All ages admitted.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops