Snippet Reviews: A Mighty Heart, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and The Invasion

A Mighty Heart (2007)

It seems that over the last few years, somewhere between the tabloid covers and the Tomb Raider sequels, most of us have forgotten just how talented Angelina Jolie really is. It's difficult not to recognize that talent once again with her portrayal of real-life Marianne Pearl, wife of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (played by Dan Futterman here), who was kidnapped by a Pakistan-based terrorist group in 2002. Once news of the kidapping reaches Marianne and company, her home becomes a chaotic collection of officials and friends from around the world, all working towards the same goal, of bringing Daniel home before time runs out. Though basically told as a police procedural it's that procedure that helps to maintain the tense environment throughout the film as Marianne and her camp scour the city, attempting to track down Daniel and his assailants. Rather than succumb to self-satisfactory melodrama, seasoned director Michael Winterbottom manages to craft a painfully realistic (mostly on account of Winterbottom's use of digital video) testament to the benefits of intercultural cooperation and communication, despite the inevitable outcome of Marianne's tragic situation. Final Grade: B+

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)

If whimsicality were currency, writer/director Zach Helm would be bankrupt. Dustin Hoffman channels a twisted combination of Willy Wonka and Gene Shalit as Mr. Edward Magorium, the 243 year-old owner of the Wonder Emporium. Nevermind that his store, filled with every sort of colorful bauble imaginable, is smack dab in the middle of a busy New York City street, and there is no one yet to have noticed that this magical toy store has a life of it's own. After Magorium announces to his assistant Molly (Natalie Portman) that he has chosen to bequeath the store to her, things around the Emporium begin to go a bit haywire. Jason Bateman makes a welcome turn as Henry, the deadpan accountant sent in to sort out Magorium's finances, but even he fails to reach his potential and ends up as a cardboard cut-out of a fully developed character. Director Helm, who's writing credits include 2004's Stranger Than Fiction, is not only far too aware of his own quirkiness but also rather unsure of what message he wants to convey. Helm bravely plays with the type of sensitive subject matter not typically approached in family pictures, but even those themes fail to really strike an emotional chord. Final Grade: D

The Invasion (2007)

Another year, another re-make. After two big screen treatments of Jack Finney's novel "The Body Snatchers" the question is, do we really need another? Nicole Kidman is riveting, per usual, as a Washington D.C. psychiatrist who begins to notice strange behavior in her patients and neighbors after a space shuttle crash lands containing an alien virus. It's an eerie tale, but never seems to amount to much else. A lame attempt to intertwine social commentary on the nature of humanity and violence is made, and Jeffrey Wright is criminally underused. Final Grade: C-