Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Zach Mills and Jason Bateman, this movie is a tale of about a magical toy store, a manager with low self confidence, an uptight "mutant" accountant and a boy with no friends and large hat collection.

This movie could have been great--and yet, it wasn't. Had there been more of the good, yet fleeting, moments, (where you actually began to think, "Huh, maybe this is worth my time after all)), maybe it would be better--or maybe not.
Magorium's insane childish behavior, (he did have a few, memorable lines, though), was somewhat disturbing to me...I mean, had you been living for 200-plus years, maybe that's how you would act...or maybe not. I think the guy had too much sun, personally, though he managed to stay likable and was fairly funny at times.
Then there was another scene with the mutant, (accountant), where he's playing with the monkey-eared kid, that made me want to slap my forehead.

Having said all this, I must admit that the film had good character development and that it did have genuine, funny scenes threaded throughout all the semi-okay parts. The best part of all of it was the Mutant, and the friendless kid,
No cussing, and no profanity in any kind or sort; I'm sure most semi-older kids will enjoy it, and, admittedly, it kept my attention throughout...in an odd sort of way.

This movie receives the O.A.M.R. of 1 1/2 stars