Imagine That (2009) User Reviews (57)

This movie was GREAT don't listen to...

[mark-547-569815 · 7/10 · 4 October 2009]

Look, I don't know what people have against Eddie Murphy films (they always seem to get a low rating on IMDb) but if you watch them for what they are they are FUNNY.

@jogliore from United States What's wrong with you? My wife and kids watched this movie and loved it. I loved it. It's funny. It makes you laugh. The acting is good enough for the type of movie. It's a family comedy - not godfather!

Anyway, we really enjoyed this movie just like we enjoy most of Eddie Murphy's movies.

Have a sense of humour guys. Come on - this deserves much better!

7/10 Mark A.

Best Eddie Murphy Film for years

[stephengraley · 7/10 · 10 October 2009]

Yes eddie Murphy's Film Career has been on a bit of a downward spiral and with the exception of the Shrek films it would have gone down the toilet a lot quicker but this is just a feel good fun film.

The movie does not aim to be something special just when the end credits role it makes you feel good. Thomas Haden Church's character is just mental and he pulls it off really well with a crazy performance. There are some real gem scenes in the movie, hilarious when eddie murphy and his daughter have to say grace but i wont spoil it.

On the whole this was just a fun movie to watch and enjoy and makes you realise how great it is to have children in your life just when you are wondering why you had children !!!

Though at times cliché'd, the film is the return of Eddie Murphey.

[Sirus_the_Virus · 7/10 · 17 October 2009]

Eddie Murphey stars as a father who starts taking advice from his daughter in Imagine that. Now I know that everyone has given up on Eddie Murphey. Because both Meet Dave and Norbit were disasters. But Imagine that actually isn't a disaster.

I am not going to go too much into the plot. Or into it at all. Now Eddie Murphey at a time was a great comedic talent, but now he chooses all of these bad films. But Eddie Murphey sure does make a comeback in this film.

Imagine that is a funny film. Though at times seems a little too crude. Trust me people this ain't Norbit but this film is a good movie. I also felt like the film was a little bit cliché'd if you know what I mean. There is a scene in the film where Eddie Murphey leaves his meeting to see his daughter sing at her school. Clearly it's not a great movie, but I appreciated it so thumbs up.

Fun but forgettable

[Gordon-11 · 11 October 2009]

This film is about a high ranking executive in a financial corporation, who falls into his daughter's fantasy world.

"Imagine That" is a fun movie that is suitable for both adults and children. Eddie Murphy does a good job to entertain, but this time he dances and sings with his daughter. It is a refreshing change that his movie is without any gross or crude humour. In between the fun scenes, it explores family relationships and how people prioritise their loved ones. It is particularly sad that parents nowadays may be emotionally distant from their children because of heavy work commitments, which is so well portrayed in this film. Of course, "Imagine That" does not dwell in such a topic, but instead is a forgettable comedy.

What audience is this supposed to be aimed at?

[dockbennett · 6/10 · 23 September 2009]

I just saw this film with a group of children, whom we took as part of our Holiday Care programme here in Brisbane, Australia. As there were no toilet trips, I actually managed to see it all!

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good and entertaining film, but it was hard to know to whom it was aimed at. The business meetings Murphy went to and various discussions about same were certainly not down to children's levels, and a lot of kids in the cinema clearly got quite restless, including some of ours, at least one of whom complained about the movie being "boring". But when Murphy went on his comedy antics, it was a bit too juvenile for adults.

I thought Eddie was great, as was Yara Shahidi as the young girl, in an absolutely lovely, natural performance, while Thomas Haden Church was amusing as the fake Indian. But what was with the imaginary friends?? Were they real? If not, how did the girl get all the right information about the businesses? If they were... well... the film didn't seem to relay that. Wasn't it all generally another morality tale about parent/child bonding?

And what was with all the Beatles songs?

Certainly a pretty entertaining picture, but who is it for?

Nice family watch

[harry_goel · 7/10 · 16 February 2020]

It was a nice feel good movie to watch with family. My kids enjoyed watching it. It didn't get boring anywhere and didn't feel like it was needing dragged. Most of all, I liked the daughter's acting.

A Family Night Winner

[OutsideHollywoodLand · 5/10 · 2 February 2010]

Sometimes a little film can be a big surprise. Eddie Murphy has been making a lot of little films lately, some with mixed results. His latest small carat movie, Imagine That, twinkles in all the right places.

Eddie Murphy once again plays a workaholic parent, Evan Danielson, who is too busy to notice the world immediately outside of his corporate office. The world, in this instance, is his adorable daughter, Olivia, played by Yara Shahidi. Olivia copes with his absence by enjoying a fantasy world of her own, complete with three wish-granting divas, dragons, and castles.

Evan, a stressed-out stock consultant, is embroiled in a battle for a promotion against the legendary Johnny Whitefeather, played by Thomas Haden Church. Whitefeather is a New Age snake-charmer, complete with half-baked motto's that pass for ancient Native American wisdom. Evan finds it hard to compete with his incense, power chants, and dirty tricks until Yara and her divas lend him a hand.

For those who fondly remember a standard high-amped Eddie Murphy vehicle, this story may seem a bit simple. The script is a bit weak, falling back on the frustrated ex-wife routine, and yes - the ending is tooth-numbing sweet. Yet it's the genuine chemistry between Murphy and Shahidi - and the cutthroat conflict between Evan and Johnny - that is sure to delight the family on movie night.

Maybe the Buddhists do have it right - less is more.

Funny Family Movie....

[guljannat · 7/10 · 26 August 2020]

Good Funny movie to watch with the family. We enjoyed it.

I Liked It

[michaeltrivedi · 6/10 · 28 December 2019]

The little girl in this movie is fun to watch. She is a kid, though she has rebelliousness and seriousness that is usually only seen in adults.

Eddie Murphy movie at its best. It had the hard working parent aspect, and the child that is failing because of it. But there hope. And it makes them stronger.

I liked it a lot

6 stars

Better than many recent Eddie Murphy comedies

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 27 November 2009]

Hot shot exec who is trying to be a good dad has a crisis of confidence which some how begins to be turned around thanks to his entry into his daughters imaginary world.

Uneven Eddie Murphy comedy is better than many of his recent outings. There certainly something to the script which has some nice moments of Eddie getting in touch with his inner child. However there are other moments that just come off rather shrill and far from clever. I big problem with the film is the secondary cast. Thomas Hayden Church who has been turning in some excellent performances in other films is terrible here and some of the actors supporting the leads seem to locked in some bad TV sitcom.

I think its worth a try but I'd wait for cable.

Great Family Film - Don't Sleep On This

[dwaynebreeden · 9/10 · 5 August 2009]

I think everyone is jaded against Eddie Murphy. This film was excellent. It was heartwarming, charming and the little girl was to die for. If I had a daughter I would want her to be just like that. The story was unique and showed the bonding between parent and child like no other. Don't sleep on this film. It is not Citizen Kane but it is a heartwarming tearjerker. The part where Eddie teaches her how to sing and the ending almost brought me to tears. Thomas Haden Church's character was hilarious, the competition and the scenes with his son had everyone in the theater howling. This is an awesome movie, cant wait to buy it on Blu Ray. Simple silly fun from Eddie Murphy.... Imagine That!

Don't blindly believe the reviewers !

[elshikh4 · 7/10 · 28 May 2012]

Some people love to believe fiction, and be affected by it. As long as it's - for instance - a movie's story, it's good. But when it concerns something out of the movie, precisely about it, then this is really bad. Because when it comes to (Imagine That), everybody hated it without seeing it, believing the false reputation of it as ugly. So, imagine that!

It's one of (Eddie Murphy)'s "family" comedies. Namely something without swearing, toilet humor, and sex jokes, which is the type that he mostly practices as a profession since his start. While this is an optimistic and lovely, "how" it is done is the question. And here, it is fairly done.

The character which (Murphy) plays is simply a man who doesn't listen to his child daughter. He goes to a journey that makes him just listen. It has also a fantasy spirit, comic moments, different antagonist, hot pace and relaxing feel. I did enjoy it.

(Murphy) is perfect; being astonishing while doing nothing. He has really funny scenes like: having unique dinner made by his kid, his bargaining - unsuccessful one! - with a kid, and his sneaking into the home of his kid's friend. The conflict was on between him and the character played by (Thomas Haden Church); who - by the way - played one of his most memorable roles. The sequence of the Beatles's "All we need is love" was shot so beautifully it's euphoric and sentimental. The whole movie seems like a cute effort with a message for parents as if made by their kids. However, it wasn't all top notch.

The 7 year old (Yara Shahidi), who played the imaginative kid, was straightly bad. Aside from her weak presence, she played her part dully, so how about being in front of the forever energetic (Murphy). Most of the time she gives a less than expected performance, like she's reading the dialogue uninterestingly. Sure all the kids who played roles in front of (Murphy) before were more charismatic and talented. That annoyed much, since this movie had no one but (Shahidi) and (Murphy) for most of its time.

Yes, the comedy wasn't about farts, private parts, and the like. But it wasn't a lot either. This script played the movie as a fun day between a father and his kid. The laughs were few, and the rest was about flimsy chuckles. It clearly needed more funny situations and dialogue.

The third act suffered some obviousness and predictability. For instance, the father of the kid's friend overreacted couple of times in terms of dealing with the hurried (Murphy). The way the antagonist lost the conflict was forced and unconvincing; he was too wise to do what he did at the last weighty meeting. Master of businessmen (Marin Sheen)'s reaction towards (Murphy)'s actions at the end was easy to predict for having a happy ending anyhow. And although the song scene was good, but the matter of a climax where the dad leaves his work, and goes to his kids, preferring soul / family love on material / money is too conventional and worn-out, having been done in numerous movies lately.

Anyway, (Imagine That) is a little movie; watchable, meaningful, and nice. Its important message is delivered wickedly "without listening to your kid, you won't succeed" and it's true. Believing their fiction, or any fiction, can be so well to do. Unless when it comes to this movie's reputation. It got undeservingly harsh treatment from everybody. And the lesson here is: don't blindly believe the reviewers, they can be blind themselves!

Imagine That!, it sucked

[MCMAYNERBERRY · 2/10 · 22 June 2009]

A successful financial executive (Eddie Murphy) has more time for his BlackBerry than his seven-year-old daughter (Yara Shahidi). When he has a crisis of confidence and his career starts going down the drain, however, he finds the solution to all his problems in his daughter's imaginary world. Where to begin.... i know! Why this movie was bad. Well for starters Eddie Murphy hasn't taken any good roles since Beverly Hills Cop and Thomas Haden Church is more smarter than to accept a role like that. Now i know it's a kids movie, but even the kid sitting next to me said it was a con. My advice, either wait until the DVD or just don't bother. Imagine That 2/10

Has the makings of a good father/daughter movie but is quite uneven in its delivery.

[TxMike · 4 December 2009]

The featured comment today calls this "the worst movie of the year" which is quite clearly wrong. In fact, it is not a "bad" movie at all, but could have been quite a bit better. It is hazardous to judge without actually knowing, but since it is an Eddie Murphy movie I am guessing that some of the unnecessarily slow or silly scenes were left in because of him. Cut it down by about 10 minutes and improve the flow of the story and it has a quite good message.

Eddie Murphy is hot-shot financial professional Evan Danielson, in Denver. Rumors are the boss is retiring soon and Evan sees himself as the leading candidate to manage this Western division.

His chief competition is Thomas Haden Church as Johnny Whitefeather, who uses his Native American background and lots of double-speak to convince others that he has some special gift for analysis and investment advice. We find out later that his heritage may have been a bit overblown.

The 3rd key character is 7-year-old Yara Shahidi as Olivia, Evan's cute and bright daughter. She hasn't quite turned loose of her security blanket and this at times causes trouble at home and at school. Evan and her mother are divorced, and we can quickly see that Evan's career ambitions usually command his full attention, and his relationship with his daughter comes in a very distant second.

That in fact if the thrust of the story, the father/daughter relationship and how Evan might repair it. In the end the story is a good one, the movie is just bogged down by its own weight at times.

SPOILERS: Olivia has imaginary friends, princesses, but one night when she is in Evan's home office, and hears him discussing certain investments, Olivia tells him which ones are good and which are bad, supposedly told to her by the imaginary princesses. The next day everything she said turns out correct. Soon Evan is using his daughter and her maybe not imaginary friends to predict winners for him. His own moment comes on a Saturday when the big boss wants him demonstrate why he should be the new manager, but Evan leaves the meeting, he goes to a school singalong that Olivia had been preparing for. This does two things for him, it repairs the relationship with his daughter, and it gains the respect of the big boss. The new job is his, and he has a new perspective on work life and family life.

Pleasant but insubstantial. The parts don't completely belong together, and the film feels a bit weak, flabby, and unfinished

[bopdog · 6/10 · 13 June 2009]

I have always liked Eddie Murphy. Some of my favourite movies had him perform brilliantly in the Klumps films, and the Nutty Professor. This film is pleasant, but bland and flabby. It has no substance. The plot is simple enough--- Murphy is in a "death struggle" with a rival at his competitive work environment, and he is unexpectedly rescued by his young daughter's fantasy relationships with her fairy princesses and other invisible friends.

There would be nothing wrong with that plot were it not that the film doesn't seem to have any backbone. No internal support. It is like the work of a friend of mine, a designer and remodeler of houses and buildings. She will sometimes construct life-sized versions of proposed building changes with large sheets of cardboard, held together with duct tape. She will place these "new" walls and elements right in the actual places they would occupy if installed. This technique gives one a very real sense of what the proposed changes will look and feel like. But the cardboard does not actually substitute for real structures. It is not designed to.

This film has that same cardboardy and insubstantial feel to it. One gets the "idea" of the story, but not a real substantive story. As if the writer and director merely sketched out a rough and thin version of the finished product, but then forgot to go back replace the sketches with actual, solid, real parts.

For example, Murphy has an arch enemy in this film--- a smarmy con-man type who presents himself as some kind of native American Medicine Man or shaman. He even calls himself Mr. Whitefeather, and wears clothes and jewelry with a Navajo motif. He even wears eagle feathers in one scene, and peppers his speech with commercialised versions of faux-Medicine-Man psycho-babble. He uses his "Indianness" to dazzle potential clients who are caught up in the exotica of a tribal theme. But, we find out he is really a fake, with a great-grandfather Navaho, making him a virtual non-starter in the PC world of "Let's be nice to the Natives." OK, fine--- but what does that have to do with Murphy and his daughter? Sadly, nothing at all. Yes, the con man's deception was disgraceful, but it also belonged in some other movie, not this one.

The child actress playing the daughter was charming, and a very good actor. yet 90% of the time I could not account for her moods--- she is withdrawn and moody. Why? Dunno... What's the moodiness leading to next in the plot? Again, dunno...

The cause-and-effect logic of Murphy and his fellow cast members' actions was also not at all clear. The scenes kind of existed, at times, as static and unrelated events. Never did I laugh (nor did the audience), and never was I puzzled, surprised, delighted, or otherwise engaged.

This film needed another 6 months of rewriting and rethinking before being made. Murphy is a genius! Can't ANYONE write a decent movie for him?

Poor Eddie...

[revelinchaos · 6/10 · 11 July 2010]

...if you look at all the scores the IMDb gave his movies, I think you'd come up with an (estimated) average of about 5/10, with only 48 Hours and the first Beverly Hills Cop going past the 7: someone here must really hate the guy...

OK, they're all comedy (or action-comedy) movies (except for Dreamgirls, where he's not the main lead anyway), and comedy movies, we all know, don't win Oscars: for some weird reason, critics everywhere seem to think that the value of a movie is directly proportional to the amount of sadness and tears said movie is able to provoke and/or to the number of philosophy classes the viewer must've taken in order to 'truly' understand the subtext(s) the writer/director so generously intertwined in their masterpiece.

Well, if that's the meter, then I concur, Murphy's movies deserve the abysmal scores they got and keep getting, but if not, I think they should be considered ALSO in light of their intended audience and goals: of what they are. For instance, regarding this movie, as soon as I saw the Nickelodeon logo during the opening titles I just thought "crap!" and then "oh well...". What I mean is that this is obviously intended as a family comedy movie and that it should also be treated as such. I mean, the apex of profanity Murphy is allowed here is "poop"... As someone else already wrote in his review, this is not the Godfather, nor does it presume to be.

I consider Murphy to be one of the most entertaining comedy actors of the 80's, with what I deem milestones of that genre, such as Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America. After that, I believe his career actually started to go downhill, culminating with movies such as Norbit or Meet Dave. This said, and all things considered, I believe this particular movie deserves a pass grade, a C. OK, as I said, this is not the Murphy from BHC or TP, I think that's clear, that that character, along with those times, are long gone by now; but I believe he delivers a pretty decent acting performance in this unassuming movie, as does his co-lead, the child who plays his daughter. The story offers nothing new or original, and honestly, it's quite silly, the 'message' is the generic "find time to spend with your children and learn to listen to them". However, overall I found the movie to be mildly entertaining, thanks also to the 'fake' native American character, Whitefeather, and his peculiar 'business communication' style. The cinematography is clean and I think I saw no trace of CG whatsoever, which has become quite the remarkable thing in itself these days. So, in the end I wouldn't recommend this to just anybody, but I believe it's a nice little movie to watch with your children, or if you're an Eddie Murphy aficionado. 6/10.

A movie that means well, but wasn't made well

[geniuskentyk-1 · 5/10 · 9 July 2010]

Eddie Murphy has been off his A-game in 'comedy' lately. The past few movies he's been in have been flops, sucky films, and/or not funny (kind of like Will Ferrel). Well, I was skeptical of 'Imagine That' and thought that I would die from watching a movie that had bad reviews. After seeing the movie, however, I actually enjoyed the movie a little. The actor that portrays Murphy's daughter is a natural and her character has cute moments. 'Imagine That' doesn't really have any 'laugh-out-loud moments'; it's funny sometimes, but not a 'bursting with laughter' kind of funny. I actually read a review that said that 'Meet Dave', which was the last Eddie Murphy film (and was also a big flop), had more laughs than 'Imagine That.' While watching this movie it started to remind me of a kids movie that Eddie Murphy was in a few years ago, called 'Daddy Day Care.' I liked 'Daddy Day Care' a lot more than 'Imagine That' (i don't know if it's because i was younger then…), but I still wouldn't say that 'Imagine That' is a horrible movie. It's an 'okay' movie; not too good, but not too bad.

Surprisingly good...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 9 January 2016]

I had some restrictions about sitting down to watch "Imagine That". Why? Well, because it was an Eddie Murphy starring opposite a child movie. And given Murphy's track record for the past many years hasn't been that impressive. But this movie was a surprise that blindsided me.

While the story is a bit corny, then it is also very well-told, beautiful and it sinks right in. The director, Karey Kirkpatrick, knew exactly how to blend comedy in with a good story. And I will say that if you haven't already seen "Imagine That" then you should the time to do so, regardless if you are a fan of Eddie Murphy or not.

Eddie Murphy is back in great shape in this 2009 movie, and it was a pleasure to see him back on the screen in something that was actually worth watching. Alongside him were some other impressive actors, that being Thomas Haden Church and Ronny Cox. However, the most impressive performance was young actress Yara Shahidi, she really stood her ground before Eddie Murphy, and she nailed her role right on the money.

"Imagine That" is a good and entertaining movie and it comes with a storyline that will appeal to all fathers out there. I was genuinely entertained by this movie and can warmly recommend you spending about an hour and forty-five minutes to watch it.

Better Than Meet Dave, Or Norbit, But That's Not Saying Much

[Jackpollins · 4/10 · 20 June 2009]

Eddie Murphy's newest comedy, Imagine That does not have the painfully low amount of laughs as Meet Dave, or the extreme offensiveness of Norbit. In fact, it does have one or two laughs, and it's kind of sweet, and certainly not offensive. That said, even this Eddie Murphy vehicle can't stop my belief that by now Eddie Murphy should be flipping burgers somewhere. When I say one or two laughs, I mean I got a quiet ha-ha every 55 minutes of the movie, and it's 110 minutes. The sweetness comes from the fact that Eddie Murphy is a jerk to his daughter, and then is all of a sudden nice to her. Don't worry, that's not even actually sweet, he just does it so he can get a promotion. The only real entertainment, and not funny or sweet entertainment comes from Thomas Haden Church as Johnny Whitefeather, Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy)'s business rival with a weird way of business. Unfortunately, he's only in a couple of scenes. The two laughs come from Bobbe J. Thompson (the kid who played the foul-mouthed Ronnie in Role Models) as a kid offered easy money, and who denies it. The second laugh is Johnny getting his son hopped up on red bull so he can use the same skill Evan uses for his business predictions. This is not a good movie by any means, but if you want to see a bad Eddie Murphy film, then this is the best bad Eddie Murphy film you can get. Unlike his previous films, instead of being horrible, it's just mediocre.

Stressed businessman gets useful tips from daughter's imaginary friends. Bless.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 29 July 2012]

I'd call myself an Eddie Murphy fan, I've lost count of the number of times I have had to convince sceptics that he once ruled the cinema world back in the 1980s. There are those who seem to have a poisonous agenda about the man and his work post 1990. Yep, there's a lot of rubbish there on his CV, but quite often it's harmless rubbish with some value to the easy going film fan, in fact the number of outright offencive stinkers are surprisingly low in his 30 year career (Norbit, good grief!).

Which brings us to Imagine That, a genuinely sweet film that is devoid of blunderbuss effects and plays out via good human interactions. True, it's fanciful fluff that ends up as you'd expect, while a splendid cast featuring Thomas Haden Church, Ronny Cox and Martin Sheen are going through the motions and earning an easy dollar. But it never once gets tired and Murphy gets on occasion to show his comedic chops.

Some of the more adult threads involving corporate politics will go over the heads of the kids, and likewise the father/daughter imaginary friends angle only resonates with those of a similar persuasion, but the film is trying to cover all bases. Clearly it doesn't all work, otherwise the picture would be better thought of, yet a decent family time filler it rounds out to be. I wouldn't advocate spending money to rent it, mind, but there are worse things in cinema life than watching this with a child you hold dear. 6/10

Murphy Did Worse Than Meet Dave. Imagine That!

[anaconda-40658 · 1/10 · 30 June 2015]

Imagine That (2009): Dir: Karey Kirkpatrick / Cast: Eddie Murphy, Yara Shadidi, Thomas Hayden Church, Nicole Parker, Ronny Cox: Eddie Murphy in another terrible family film. Imagine that! It regards relationships, particularly parental as Murphy learns that his daughter's treasured blanket holds the answers to his career. Director Karey Kirkpatrick doesn't spin much insight into the luck factor other than the daughter that talks to imaginary Princesses. She could have been carrying on a conversation with a snot rag and had about as much success and look no less intelligent. Murphy sings, dances and makes a major career blunder…AGAIN! He is struggling between two audiences and clashing his adult viewers with a family audience is proving difficult. Thomas Hayden Church is equally foolish as a competing co-worker. Yara Shahidi plays the daughter who needs major shock therapy. She needs to develops a hobby that doesn't involve conversations with objects. Nicole Parker plays her mother and that must be a task in itself. What she needs to do is rush her daughter to the nearest psychiatrist and get her thoroughly checked over. There is nothing of value in this cheap laughless spectacle. Even its father daughter message disappears like the intelligence that went into this in the first place. Theme vanishes with each passing charade until viewers imagine Murphy's career no more. Score: 1 / 10

What's with all the hate?

[PopcornLovesMovie · 9/10 · 8 October 2009]

I love this movie. Somewhere in the fantasy lies a lot of truth and realism. How would we act if we found out our kid have this magical power to predict the future? Exactly like Eddie did! Well, maybe not quite so exaggerated like him but you get my point.

I also felt the kid's acting were great. She did act like a kid would be, with all the faults and insecurities. Dakota Fanning wasn't this good when she was her age.

This is a great family movie. It really is. It teaches us some morals, but not in a conceited, fairy tale, only happen in movie ways. It shows us straight up that Eddie does in fact used his kid for his personal benefit. And we all have to make hard decisions at times.

There are some fairy tale moments and some really good morals that both kids and adults will connect with and enjoy together.

Pretty Good

[anniec295 · 7/10 · 24 October 2009]

I was surprised actually. Eddie Murphy always seems to create those "family fun-way-to-cliché" type movies. And yet-I liked this one. And yes- it was cliché, but it was cute and funny. The little girl was quite the little actress as well! The soundtrack was also all Beatles so what's not to like? Though I do not like the updated versions they chose, it added a lot to the flick. The'bad guy' or I suppose antagonist is an overly stereotyped Native American, but come on people-don't be so defensive. Besides, we find out later that he is a very small percent of Indian and is, in fact, just a jerk. It had moral value and sweet moments. Worth a rental I'd say.

I can imagine this movie being better than it turned out

[Beta_Gallinger · 5/10 · 31 August 2011]

I have seen former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Eddie Murphy in a bunch of films, but most of them haven't been very good. This is the most recent film I've seen him in, and I've just watched it two years after its release. I didn't hear of it while it was playing in theatres, but since it was such a flop, that's not surprising. Unfortunately, "Imagine That" is basically yet another lacklustre piece of fluff starring Murphy. Watching it about 24 hours after "The Sweetest Thing", a 2002 romantic comedy which was ironically very bitter to me, I have to say that I think this 2009 release is a LOT better that that film (though comparing them does seem pretty ridiculous, since they're not the same kind of film), but it's still not a film I can praise too highly.

Evan Danielson is a financial executive who has a six year old daughter named Olivia, and she has a security blanket and likes to talk to her imaginary friends, since she doesn't seem to have any real ones. Since Evan focuses so much on his work, he tends to neglect his daughter. The financial executive was at the top of his company for eight years, but has finally been facing some competition lately since the arrival of Johnny Whitefeather. Evan's career is now going down the tubes, but as this is happening, he is introduced to his daughter's imaginary world, a world with her imaginary princess friends and their queen in it. He plays along, and finds that the solution to his recent career trouble may lie in Olivia's fantasy world! However, there's more in his life than just his job, and he may have to decide what's more important, his work or his family?

This movie is supposed to be partially a comedy and partially a drama, and the comedy aspect definitely fails for the most part. The part that made me laugh the hardest was probably Evan singing in a high voice at one point while in Olivia's imaginary world, and hardly anything else made me laugh at all. An example of something I didn't find very funny was the two times Olivia screams when deprived of her security blanket, and Thomas Haden Church in the role of Johnny Whitefeather doesn't do much for the film, either. Parts of Evan's rant about his daughter's drawings during a meeting are mildly amusing, but not the poop part. There are touching moments in "Imagine That", so I guess the movie doesn't COMPLETELY fail as a drama, but the drama is still not good enough to make up for the lacklustre humour. Those flaws plus the fairly uninteresting premise make this a pretty insignificant family flick, and I just MIGHT be able to rate it 6/10 instead of 5, but it's still far from a must-see.

Alright

[alecblair-96768 · 6/10 · 29 January 2020]

It was alright, the storyline was kind of eh, funny here and there, other than that, enjoy the movie if you want.