| Created 007.11.16; Updated 2007.11.16 |
This article originally appeared in Hollywood Today.
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Dustin Hoffman Gives Toys to Natalie Portman in Mr.
Magorium HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/16/07 — "Dustin is much like his character in that every single second he's using the utmost of his creative powers", says Natalie Portman. "To see someone squeezing that much joy and effort out of every second was pretty inspiring." Portman plays the apprentice manager of a magical toy store that dying owner Dustin Hoffman wants to leave to her. "At the beginning of any project, I never really know what the character is going to come out like", says Hoffman. "Zach wrote this screenplay at age 23, which I find remarkable. For someone so young to be exploring the themes of time, mortality and legacy was just astonishing to me." |
Photos Copyright Fox Walden
Writer and first-time director Zach Helm had worked in a toy store himself. "The toy store I worked at was similar in its eclecticism to Magorium's Emporium but it was much, much smaller," says Helm. "Then, on one particularly slow, rainy, afternoon when nobody was coming into the store, I just started writing in my journal. That's when I came up with the basic outline of a toy store owned by a 243-year-old man, a story that stayed in my notebook for a long, long time."
Helm was discovered while studying at the DePaul Chicago Theater. "Fox 2000 came to audition actors", says Helm, "They found my friend Judy Greer before she was Judy Greer." Fox asked Helm to write a sample script for them. He wrote 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium'. "I wrote the first draft in two weeks", says Helm. "I write everything in two weeks. I do a lot of internal writing. The first draft was like a James Joyce novel. It had five acts because I didn't understand three acts then. I thought, this is just like a horrible version of King Lear for kids." Fox 2000 liked 'Mr. Magorium' and tried for years to develop it, but after a regime change they were no longer interested.
"After five years the WGA has a rule that you're able to buy your script back if it's not in active development", says Helm. "I asked Fox what it would cost to get this back. I had my checkbook with me. I wrote on my check that it's 'For my script back'." Helm wanted to make a gesture to the studio that had once sent him a ham as token of appreciation for his efforts. "I wanted to send the ham with interest", says Helm. "But, I thought it might have been misconstrued if I sent a live pig to studio."
Mandate Pictures, which finances films by pre-selling foreign rights, offered Helm the chance to direct 'Mr. Magorium'. They had just produced Helm's screenplay 'Stranger Than Fiction'. "The very first person I ever mentioned that I would love to have play Mahoney was Natalie Portman", says Helm. "If I remember correctly, we sent the script to her on a Thursday and by the following Monday she said she would do it. We were ecstatic."
"Zach sent the script to me wrapped up like a present with a big red ribbon around the box," says Portman. "Inside was the most beautiful letter asking me to read the script. Well, I had already read 'Stranger Than Fiction' which I really loved so I sat down and read 'Mr. Magorium' and fell in love with his writing all over again. Zach has a very specific and optimistic perspective of the world which is so lovely to see, especially in this age of cynicism. I was really moved by that and I thought Mr. Magorium's way of looking at the world would be such a bright, uplifting thing to bring into people's lives."
So how are Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in the hands of first-time director Helm? Both actors deliver fine performances, although Hoffman lisps too much and Portman sometimes whines. Portman, who had never really played the piano before, shows tremendous dedication and method acting in learning play the piano for this movie. Helm had auditioned over a thousand kids to find Zach Mills, who plays the kid who works at the to store. That character's mania for collecting hats while avoiding making any friends his own age is odd. Stranger still is the bland personality of Jason Bateman's "mutant" accountant character, who could be from 'Stranger than Fiction'. However, these minor flaws don't mar the experience.
For cheerfulness, its theme that "magic only happens if you believe, and talented acting", 'Mr. Magorium' is in the league of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and even 'Mary Poppins'. 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium' is a family classic.
Distributor: Fox Walden
Releases: November 16
Lenght: 94 minutes
Rating: G