Review: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

C.S. Lewis once wrote that what adults call "children's literature" is essentially good writing that is about subjects that are out of fashion with those "in the know". The generally poor ratings for this movie prove that definition is as true today as it was when Lewis wrote it.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is about a magical toy store and the people who love it in their own akward, sometimes short-sighted ways. Mr. Magorium has spent over 200 years designing toys to delight people of all ages. His crowing achievement is a New York toy store. The story opens as he begins to tell the other people in his life that his life's work is done and it's time for moving on. His intention is to put the store in the care of his assistant, Molly Mahoney. 

Mahoney remembers a time when she was magical -- an acclaimed pianist destined for great things. But as she became an adult she found she was treading water. She wasn't mastering new works by other composers, and she'd become stuck in writing her own. In short, her life had become ordinary, as so many of our lives become when we transition from the wonder and freedom of childhood into the responsibilities and expectations of being adults.

In Mahoney's eyes, Mr. Magorium is  an amazing and unique person. It is because of his uniqueness that he's remained wide-eyed and inventive well into his long and productive adulthood. Because the store is his, it must be his magic that suspends the laws of gravity and makes wishes come true within the store. So when he leaves the store in her care, it becomes a magic-less toy store. Only when she is willing to bring music back into her public life -- and she sees the store respond to that music -- is she to see that the magic built into the store is to resonate the magic we are in touch with in ourselves. 

I loved a specific toy store growing up, and I know the joy of inventing. My movie-watching companion is a musician stuck in her writing process and looking at real jobs. For both of us, and I think for any adults who can put aside what other people think and enjoy playing, the movie was refreshing, playful, and yes cathartic -- but without bloodshed or the angst-ridden hero that characterize so many "cathartic" movies these days -- and ultimately inspiring.

If you are a writer, artist, musician, inventor, toy enthusiast, or wonder afficianado, I encourage you to ignore the critics and go see this movie.