{"id":1479,"date":"2007-11-16T16:15:38","date_gmt":"2007-11-16T16:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2007\/11\/is-there-wonder-in-emporium.html"},"modified":"2007-11-16T16:15:38","modified_gmt":"2007-11-16T16:15:38","slug":"is-there-wonder-in-emporium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/11\/is-there-wonder-in-emporium.html","title":{"rendered":"Is There ‘Wonder’ In ‘Magorium’s Emporium’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"magoriumsm.jpg\"It was with high hopes for holiday fare and the memory of \u201cWilly Wonka\u201d and \u201c Home Alone II\u201d that I anticipated the release of Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in \u201cMr. Magorium\u2019s Wonder Emporium.\u201d Movies like this raise our hopes that there will be something inspiring about it. Something wonderful! This one has all the trimmings. Colorful toys! Holiday theme! Kooky characters! Out-of-the-box thinking! Star power!
\nAs I write this review, though, my advice to you is this: take your kids, or your nieces and nephews, or some friends\u2019 kids if you\u2019re babysitting, because it\u2019s probably enjoyable at their level. But that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n


\nHoffman does some kind of a lispy dialect that comes off more goofy than cute. Portman and the other regular adults don\u2019t seem to experience anything heightened or transforming. Attempts at whimsy will be appreciated by the young, but adults will see this as more childish than childlike.
\nOne other important note: this movie was void of reference to faith, religion or the tradition on which the holiday season is based. It\u2019s hard to have hope in a story where the only season being celebrated is the holiday shopping season, which admittedly has become the unifying principle of our culture. Shopping may be tradition, but it offers little hope, little wonder, little magic, as does Mr. Magorium\u2019s Emporium, which runs out of wonder all too early in the script.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was with high hopes for holiday fare and the memory of \u201cWilly Wonka\u201d and \u201c Home Alone II\u201d that I anticipated the release of Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in \u201cMr. Magorium\u2019s Wonder Emporium.\u201d Movies like this raise our hopes that there will be something inspiring about it. Something wonderful! This one has all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nIs There 'Wonder' In 'Magorium's Emporium'?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/11\/is-there-wonder-in-emporium.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is There 'Wonder' In 'Magorium's Emporium'?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was with high hopes for holiday fare and the memory of \u201cWilly Wonka\u201d and \u201c Home Alone II\u201d that I anticipated the release of Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in \u201cMr. Magorium\u2019s Wonder Emporium.\u201d Movies like this raise our hopes that there will be something inspiring about it. 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