Last Chance Harvey

We've all seen a lot of scenarios as to how a couple meets. We have a new one in Last Chance Harvey, which happens after a good 45 minutes into the movie. Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman) finally sits down in a bar after a horrendous day in both job and personal life, and starts talking to Kate (Emma Thompson), who obviously doesn't want to talk at the next table as she brought a book and is very tenacious about letting go of her privacy. Who's had the "shittiest day" takes hold as a great discussion, and when he explains that he not only lost his job that day, but his daughter told him at the last minute that she wanted her stepfather to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, well, Kate acknowledges that Harvey wins. But we also know she had a tough day as well, having been set up in a blind date and left pretty much alone when his other friends happen to be at the bar, too.

Harvey is a great deal older than Kate, and is certainly more tenacious. He finds someone who tells it like it is, is a good listener, and has the same kind of humor. So he accompanies her to her class. And he finds it hard to let go after that.

This is not the wittiest comedy out there. It's not even a comedy, or a tragedy. It's all about how hard it is to change your life once you're headed in a certain direction, and how absolutely difficult it is to meet new people and forge new relationships. The lines said by our major characters are real words, not things we've wished we had said, things spontaneously out of the mouth. And mistakes are made along the way, as in real life.

I found it very charming, not light-hearted but not heavy, either, despite its beginning. I thought it interesting that the movie ends not with a definite ending, but with hope, much like Tootsie ended when Dustin's character admits to Jessica Lange that he's really Tootsie. They walk off together talking, but you're never sure what's going to happen. But you're pulling for them. Hope.

Thumb's up.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) has been running his toy store for, oh, over a hundred years now. He'd like to turn it over to his assistant, Mahoney (Natalie Portman), but she seems rather reluctant. If you haven't guessed by now, Mr. Magorium has magical powers, and Mahoney does not. Hence her reluctance. Gosh, we'd be reluctant, too, especially considering that the toy store has a mind of its own, and so does every toy in it.

I can't recommend this movie, even to kids who have a lot of patience for things to develop. It's a little scary for young kids to see toys grab other kids, or walls turning grey. And it's kind of hard to figure out the adult characters in the script, most of whom just seem rather sad rather than amusing or even kidlike. It is interesting to see where Mahoney is going, and how she gets there, but it takes all together too long in the telling.

Hoffman is fine as Magorium, who is kind of crazy whacko in a nice sort of way. And he has that amusing way of saying crazy things that seems quite rational. But the truth is the movie spends too much time with our star when he isn't the story at all. The story is really Molly Mahoney, plus the nine-year-old boy (Eric, played by Zach Mills) who helps her along the way, plus a straight-laced bookkeeper named Mutant. I'd have loved to see more for each one of these characters, as they are the pieces to this movie puzzle. Mahoney, especially, is not drawn well: she's quite the enigma. Portman makes her seem friendly when she is actually quite sensitive and lacking in self confidence, but we're not really sure why.

The young boy who plays Eric, who is constantly in the toy store and who seems to be the only rational one here, is really watchable. That young actor is going places.

But this movie isn't. The film spends most of its time explaining the situation, and less than one-fourth of it getting out of that situation. Not enough time, not enough characterization on the characters who really need it, and too much on crazy Mr. Magorium.

Thumb's down.