Although the story and concept are really good, the movie lacks lustre and entertainment value. The acting is fair at best and it looks as though Natalie Portman would rather be somewhere else in her either under acted or over acted role. Pass on the kid, very mis-cast. Dustin Hoffman wasn't a playful enough magician to make the character real. He's a great actor, this was not a part for him.

The whole movie suffers from disjointedness and a lack of real connection between the actors and the story. There is no real cohesion here at all, so the story loses it's audience very early on.

Part of it may have to do with the fact that the Writer was also the Director and they should have chosen someone else to direct this movie. I don't think the Writer had enough directing experience or feel to make this the type of movie it could have been. With the right Director and cast, this would have been an excellent film. But alas, that was not the case....Pass on this one, not much entertainment value or interest here...

This movie is an awesome movie! It tells you that magic is true and that you should live each day like there is no tomorrow. Very good and interesting.

It was so awesome and cool and magical!

I really liked it except for the dying. I liked the zebra and the sock puppet.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is sweet, wonderful, and unexpected although some of the surprises you might have wanted to know before you walked in the door. The premise of the film is that the 243-year-old owner of a magical toy store is "leaving" and leaving the store to his 20-something protege Molly, who also happens to be a musical prodigy who has yet to fulfill her promise. What you don't get until halfway through the film is that when Mr. Magorium says "leave," he means die. This is handled very "magically" (read: unrealistically) and we only see his feet at the moment of his death. My 6-year-old asked me right then if I was crying, I said no and she said, proud of herself, "me neither." The way the writer director Zack Helm handles death is a pro/con -- it's handled so that it's not upsetting but then again, it's depicted without a bit of truth.

While the first half of the film is all about "what if a magical toy store existed?" the second half is the remaining 3 characters trying to cope with Mr. Magorium's death. The magic is gone in the toy store as it is in the film.

One point in the film I truly appreciated as a parent: Jason Bateman's "mutant" accountant Henry and Natalie Portman's Molly develop a friendship that does NOT turn into a romance. It's a great message to kids that men and women can just be friends without it turning into something more.

There are several other positive messages in subplots like achieving starts with believing in yourself, friends can be found in unexpected places, and kids with hat collections may be weird but also fun; however, that's all taking this silly, fun film too seriously.

The film can best be summed up when Molly asks Mr. Magorium, "Are we going on an adventure?" His reply, "All I will say is with faith, love, this block and a counting mutant, you may find yourself somwhere you never imagined." For all ages.