Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman have their heads in the clouds. They are
bouncing up and down on a row of beds in the window of a downtown Toronto
retail outlet, and with each leap they reach up towards the ceiling, hanging
for a moment among the numerous clouds that are daubed on the uppermost
reaches of the sky-blue walls. It is hair-raising stuff, quite literally;
Hoffman’s bouffant barnet is flapping around like a tethered pigeon. Once
they have finished they seem temporarily exhausted, Hoffman falling flat on
one of the beds and resting for all of 73 seconds before springing up again
and yelping his delight.
Wandering over to talk, he slips into a conspiratorial whisper: “I think
Natalie Portman and I are similar in that we’re both antigrown up,” he
murmurs. “We have a little spark together and bring out the mischievous side
in each other, or even something worse than that, maybe even the immoral!”
With that tantalising morsel, he returns to his scene.
This bout of bed bouncing is drawn from Hoffman’s latest film, the modern-day
fable Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, and it appears late on
in the story, as Portman’s Molly Mahoney tries to remind her boss, Hoffman’s
Edward Magorium – the 243-year-old proprietor of a magical toy shop – that
life can offer a multitude of small pleasures.
In truth, playing a 243-year-old is no easy task, and the two-time Oscar
winner ( Kramer vs Kramer and Rain-man) owes a debt of
gratitude to his wife of 27 years, Lisa Gottsegen. When he was struggling to
find a voice for his character, she suggested that he employ the voice he
uses in one of his favourite jokes – that of Mabel the ostrich. The joke, he
says, does not work in print, but his humorous timbre works for Mr Magorium.
A skittish and imaginative tale from the Stranger Than Fictionwriter
Zach Helm (who also makes his directorial debut), Mr Magorium’s Wonder
Emporium shares with the Will Ferrell film a preoccupation with
impending death, though Magorium’s melancholy script unravels a
simpler and more family-friendly tale.
“It does have a link with Stranger Than Fiction,” Hoffman adds,
when the scene is finally finished, “and what’s interesting is that there,
the Harold Crick character has his fate thrust upon him, while here, Mr
Magorium is aware of his departure. He has chosen to leave the mortal realm
and is leaving behind a fantastic life for someone else.”
That someone is Portman’s Molly Mahoney, the shop manager and a talented
musician who is suffering from a personal inertia, her ambition failing to
spark a professional life beyond the magical toy shop.
In this respect she is very different from Portman herself, who has built a
remarkable filmography for someone so young. After finding fame in the Star
Wars prequels, she went on to star in the likes of Cold Mountain,
Closer and V for Vendetta. Her most recent outing,
starring in the short that plays before Wes Anderson’s The
Darjeeling Limited, has her shedding her clothes. “That’s was actually
quite fun,” she smiles. “Wes is a master with his characters.
“ Mr Magorium is character-driven, too,” and here Portman comes
over to join her co-star. “Molly starts in one place and arrives at another
and Mr Magorium is partly a catalyst for that evolution. What is wonderful
is that I’m not really sure if it’s a kids’ movie or an adults’ movie. It
crosses those boundaries.”
It may cross boundaries, but Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is
most closely aimed at the family market, with its December release date, U
rating and plot brimming with gizmos and gadgets. Molly’s journey of
discovery is facilitated by the efforts of Magorium, Eric (Zach Mills), a
nine-year-old boy who practically lives in the store, and Henry (Jason
Bateman), an accountant hired by Magorium to get his affairs in order.
“Jason’s character is like the guide,” chimes Portman. “In many ways he is
the audience’s entry point into the magical world of the toy shop.”
The Wonder Emporium itself is rendered on screen as an enchanted place where
balls bounce by themselves, where Slinkies slink around unattended and where
schools of fish fizz through the air. When the writer-director Zach Helm
pushes opens the doors to the warehouse set, the view is, well, wonderful.
Standing in the middle of the shop is an enormous pair of legs clad in
pinstriped trousers, which reach all the way to the roof a full 30ft above.
The warehouse is full to the rafters with handmade whatsitsnames, finely
crafted whatchamacallits and custom-built thingamajigs. Hanging from the
rafters are numerous mobiles, while in the far corner is a looming space
rocket. “Just look at this store!” sings Helm, his arm sweeping across the
stage. “Mr Magorium is very old; he made toys for Napoleon and played
hopscotch with Lincoln, and we figured that he purchased his store pre20th
century and added to it through the years.”
Helm’s story has undergone its own evolution since the former toy shop
employee penned the tale in 1997. “I was working at the toy store when I
came up with the idea for the story one Tuesday afternoon,” Helm says. “It
was a great, small independent toy store, with classic toys and things that
really challenge the imagination. Sadly, it’s not there any more.
“And then when Fox asked me to write a sample, I decided to do Mr
Magorium, which took me about three weeks, and it was like a novel
basically! But I turned it in and then there was a regime change and it got
kind of stuck there.”
As the years ticked by, Helm eventually took advantage of a writers’ union
bylaw that allows authors to buy back their work from a studio, as long as
it has not entered development. “I’ve done a tremendous amount of work since
I got it back. I almost wish I could go through that process every time I
wrote a script: write it, sit on it for six years, and then go back to
rewrite it.
“I’m just really glad that I got it back, got such a good cast, and am so
grateful that people have actually let me direct.” He stops and smiles,
perhaps recalling this morning’s scene. Really, I mean, they must have had
their heads in the clouds.”
Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is released nationwide on Friday
FESTIVE KIDS’ FILMS
OUT NOW
THE GOLDEN COMPASS (12A)
Some think Chris Weitz’s adaptation neutered Philip Pullman’s pungent fantasy,
but there’s still more than enough escapist wonderment to satisfy young
imaginations, from airships to talking bears, plus Nicole Kidman’s icily
scary villain.
THE POLAR EXPRESS 3D (U)
Tom Hanks leads the voice cast in an IMAX-only 3D rerelease of Robert
Zemeckis’s 2004 North Pole odyssey whose pristine CG animation looks truly
spellbinding on the massive 20x26-metre screen.
RATATOUILLE (U)
Patton Oswald voices the Parisian rodent with a gastronomic bent in a return
to form for Pixar after the spluttering, backfiring Cars. A
generous helping of Tom & Jerry-style kitchen spills for the kids is
spiced with plenty of culinary satire for more seasoned animation lovers.
THIS CHRISTMAS (12A)
The Whitfield clan get together for the first time in four years bearing gifts
and a sackful of secrets in this intricately plotted family melodrama
starring Delroy Lindo and the R’n’B artist Chris Brown, who provides some
rapturous musical moments.
RELEASED DEC 14
BEE MOVIE (PG) “Hold on to your honey!” is the tagline for DreamWorks’
latest CG animation, which features a foray into family entertainment for
Jerry Seinfeld, who co-writes and stars as a bee who strikes up a friendship
with a human woman, voiced by Renée Zellweger.
ENCHANTED (PG)
Joyous, clever fairytale with Amy Adams as an apple-cheeked Disney Princess who
is banished from her blissful animated world to the live-action mean streets
of New York by Susan Sarandon’s wicked Queen Narissa.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (U)
Jimmy Stewart learns the hard way about the importance of family, and Clarence
the angel wins his wings in a rerelease of Frank Capra’s dark but ultimately
cockle-warming seasonal perennial.
MR MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM (U)
This busily charming yarn has Dustin Hoffman on effervescent form as the
lisping, prancing, 243-year-old proprietor of a toy store bursting with all
manner of magical toys and gizmos ( see feature, page 6).
RELEASED DEC 21
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS
The Grammy-winning band of musical furballs come out of retirement for one
last performance in a live action/computer-animated comedy inspired by the
1980s cartoon series.
ST TRINIAN’S
A return to the big screen for the malicious minxes in a modern reworking
whose teen-friendly cast includes Mischa Barton, Russell Brand and Cheryl
Cole of Girls Aloud.
