4. Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium (2007)
Zach Helm is a name not everyone is likely to be familiar with but for a while there back in 2006/07 a guy by that very name was liberally indulging in his prerequisite 15 minutes. A clearly talented writer, 6 or so years ago Zach Helm was the talk of tinsel town, the next big thing. 2006 saw the release of the Will Ferrell movie; Stranger Than Fiction (the one where he was narrated by Emma Thompson) and lots of people seemed to agree it was pretty good. Based on Helms screenplay the consensus was that the guy certainly had potential. So where is he now? What Happened? Well this isnt supposed to be about Zach Helm, but Mr Magorioums Wonder Emporium, thats what happened. The film was not only written, but also directed by Helm. It starred Dustin Hoffman as the titular Mr Magorium, the eccentric owner of a magical toy store and Natalie Portman as Molly Mahoney, a former piano prodigy who now works in said store. All well and good, a sappy plot maybe, but clearly aimed at the family market, Toy Story meets Willy Wonka written by the next big thing in film writing. Unfortunately it just didnt quite work. Effort was seemingly made, the film looked nice, yet no amount of colour could excuse what was ultimately a rather bland story. Hoffman, Portman and Jason Bateman try their best and arent really bad, its just a shame to see their talents wasted.