I felt like this film wanted to be the happier version of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" - there's "chapters" and loads of narration, tons of quirky characters and plenty of computer generated FX to possibly keep young tykes quiet for a little over an hour, but I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. It's a charming little movie, but the actors are using broad strokes to get their point across (as in Portman's imaginary piano that's she's constantly tinkering on) which detracts from the film's rather touching moments (any scene that Magorium is optimistically talking about his death, and particularly, the hospital room covered in glow stars). Hoffman is fun to watch, as usual, and Bateman, Portman, Mills and the rest of the supporting cast keep things light and fun. The film is obviously aimed at young children, and I couldn't think of a better film for them to watch, and the score matches the action on the screen to a tee, but I guess only time will tell if this becomes an enduring family classic or not.