Christmas holidays are the time of feelgood family movies and it looks like much-hyped THE GOLDEN COMPASS (otherwise known as Northern Lights) is going to be the big one. Although we haven’t seen it yet, this is a sanitised Hollywood version of the first part of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Reports are that anti-church/organised religion element has been exorcised, which is a pity because that was one of the more interesting elements of the books. But this isn’t a review of that film. There is another smaller, family fantasy film that is full of charm that risks getting overlooked in the shadow of the blockbuster and that is MR MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM.
It comes with credentials to match the big studio movie in terms of acting and writing talent. Penned by Zach Helm, who wrote STRANGER THAN FICTION, the Will Ferrell comedy from last year. Helm also directed the film, a brave move for a first time director to tackle such a visually complex film.
Mr Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) runs the magical toy shop with the help of his young manager Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), but he is 243 years old and wants to retire so he calls in an accountant, Henry (Jason Bateman) to sort of his affairs. Of course, being an accountant Henry cannot see the magic that is happening around him, but is slowly drawn into it by Eric (Zach Mills), a supersmart nine year old who spends an inordinate amount of time in the shop instead of being in school. When the shop discovers that its longtime owner is moving on the magic starts to disappear and it is up to Molly, with the help of Henry and Eric, to bring it back.
You have to bear in mind that this is a family movie, and as a responsible film critic so did I. It is very easy to become cynical about these types of movies, with their morals and sentimentality, but I remembered Terry Gilliam giving an introduction to a screening of his film TIDELAND, where he said that it is best watched through the eyes of a child. So whenever I go to see these types of films I heed his advice and they become so much more enjoyable. That doesn’t mean I turn off my discrimination because kids, in general, aren’t dumb or at least they never used to be.
Adopting the above method of film viewing, Mr Magorium is a delight. It has plenty of the quirky humour that made STRANGER THAN FICTION so enjoyable, but tempered to appeal to a much younger audience. Although Hoffman is still recognised as one of the great actors of our time, the vocal affectations he employs for his character are a bit annoying but not completely distractingly so. Portman is charming and is becoming quite adept at playing slightly off-kilter characters, as seen in GARDEN STATE, and in this one she even has a touch of the Julie Andrews about her at times. Jason Bateman is a great comedy actor, as witnessed in the brilliant ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, and he is very good at playing it straight for laughs, but always with a twinkle in his eye. Young Zach Mills was great as the boy and reminded me of Lukas Haas in WITNESS, and not just because of his ears.
The film is filled with special effects, as you would expect from a fantasy film of this nature, but they don’t dominate the story nor overshadow the characters, and there are some nice touches that will appeal to both adults and children.
If you fancy some light family entertainment, with a message and some laughs, over Christmas then this is the one to see.
MR MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM is on general release from December 14.