Brilliant and touching

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Vacillating over scoring this 3 or less. A generally disappointing movie that one can only imagine genuinely respected actors such as Dustin Hoffman must have ended up feeling a bit embarrassed about being involved with. Potentially this could have been a much better film. One appreciates that it is fantasy, and essentially aimed at children, but this is no excuse for the overarching contrivances and heavy-handed sentimentality all aimed at achieving an emotional response. This film needed another half hour to flesh-out the characters and plot to make us 'care' about them and left too many things feeling flimsy and undeveloped. Children of a certain age may be momentarily amused by some of the 'special effects' for some of the time, but the screenplay, the constant use of emotional music and meme-like conversational gambits, and the rather 'bright'/made-for-TV feel of the production quality, combined with the essentially simplistic and facile 'big message' all leave one feeling bluntly dissatisfied and frustrated at having spent 90-odd minutes watching something that was ultimately 'less than the sum of its parts'.

(28%) A feather light family fantasy picture that gets by with a talented cast, but is void of all the extra elements needed to deem it anything other than ordinary and forgettable. Dustin Hoffman's Mr Magorium, despite his best efforts to give some substance to the character, is just a Willy Wonker light. He talks funny, looks as eccentric as any multi-millionaire fashion designer, but there really isn't anything to him besides his magic toy shop. So when the main plot point is revealed just after halfway through it isn't nowhere near as powerful as it needs to be for this to leave any sort of lasting impression. There are much worse family movies out there, but then again being middle of the road isn't exactly all that great either. Which is exactly what this is.

Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman) is the manager of the magical toy store Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and an apprentice to Mr. Edward Magorium (Dustin Hoffman). Molly was a promising composer but has since lost her confidence. Eric Applebaum is a friendless boy except for Molly and Mr. Magorium. Mr. Magorium hires accountant Henry Weston (Jason Bateman) to get the accounts in order. He gives Molly a block of wood called Congreve and asks Henry to transfer the Emporium to her name.If I'm a kid, I would love this store. Kermit would drop by. It looks like a lot of fun and the movie spares no expense to make this CG heaven. I keep wondering what's the relationship of the store to the real world. Do adults remember the magic after they leave the store? It's odd that nobody seems to be surprised. The movie should explain the world more. Molly and Henry aren't actually that compelling. The character growth is easy. There isn't much of a story here.

Let's get something straight. This - Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium - is my realm. Some guys make movies, but not me. No! I am the one who watches. Upon recently viewing this movie upwards of 250 times in the past month, I can say this is a 100 percent perfect film that will not make you blue, but rather cheer you up even if you are cold and alone. Though I wish I could watch this with my family, I know that is unlikely even if I take full measures. Alright, let's talk about Mr. Edward Magorium. He was a good man and a good toy store owner. He didn't deserve what happened to him. He didn't deserve it at all. But I'd watch him again and tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. When you make it Edward versus Bellini, or Edward versus Molly, Edward loses! Simple as that. This is on Mr. Magorium, not Eric, not Molly. I mean really, what'd you expect me to do? Just simply roll over and not watch this on repeat? That I wouldn't take the time – extreme amounts of time – to watch this myself? Wrong! Think again. If you don't agree with me, then I'm sorry you feel that way - but know this: If you've already read this far, I won. Tread lightly, Mr Lambert