Of the four protagonists in this play, two are acting in dramas, Zach Mills as Eric, the hat collector, and Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Edward Magorium; two are acting in movies, Natalie Portman as Molly Mahoney, and Jason Bateman as Henry Weston, the Mutant. The drama actors moved the children and me, and the movie actors moved the critics. The highlight of the performance is the superb acting skills of the old and the young. In the end, Portman didn't make me feel "you have to believe in order to see" from her look, and Bateman's performance when he woke up from a dream was not enough. Actors cannot fully devote themselves to these two roles, perhaps because of the contradictory positions of the two roles themselves. From the initial disbelief to the momentary believing, Portman's stiff smile on his face said it all. The colors are bright, comparable to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; but I personally think that the casting of Molly Mahoney and Henry Weston are two major failures.
The script was mediocre. The biggest highlight is Mr. Edward Magorium’s lines about death: [to Molly, about dying] When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." but because of the life we saw prior to the words.
If you want to explain the meaning of "death" For children, maybe this will be the best film. Otherwise, that's it.
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Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium reviews
