Fun movie

The critic in my town described this movie as an instant Christmas classic. I had seen the trailer and thought it might be a pretty wonderful movie myself. It is rare that the critics in my town every review a movie like this, so I was really looking forward to something magical.

Well the Emporium is supposed to be a magical place and it was in the movie, but I thought it was missing something. Don't get me wrong the acting was very solid and entertaining, but I don't think I would call this one an instant holiday classic. I can't tell you exactly what it was, but something was missing.

Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman, and the lead boy were great in the movie. Dustin Hoffman didn't quite do it for me. It seemed like they were trying to do a Willie Wonka imitation here that didn't quite work. His accent wasn't right for the character. I saw the movie with my kids and one of them asked me why he was talking that way. I didn't really have a good answer to that one.

This is a good movie to take the whole family to. It is a good clean movie with a lot of fun scenes and humor. You will get a few laughs and have some tender moments. Hope you get a chance to experience the "magic."

Flash

7/10