IMAGINE THAT (USA 2009) **
Directed by Kelly Kirkpatrick

IMAGINE THAT is another Eddie Murphy’s foray into the kids family movie that made him a decent buck but put him way down below in the eyes of critics.  A notch above similar fare like DADDY DAY CARE, Murphy probably hopes for some financial success following the likes of Will Smith with money earners SEVEN POUNDS and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS.

To be fair to Murphy, he is the better comedian who sometimes outshines in the acting department as demonstrated in DREAMGIRLS, the film should have garnered him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.  In IMAGINE THAT, Murphy plays Evan, a successful financial executive who has more time for his business than his seven-year-old daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi). When he has a crisis of confidence and his career starts going down the drain when the company hires another executive, Whitefeather (Thomas Hayden Church), Evan finds the solution to all his problems in Olivia’s imaginary world.  No need to guess what happens as the script by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson follows the standard unimaginative story and storytelling.

One has to hand it to Murphy for trying so hard.  Imagine having to scream words like “I need my gaga,” at the top of his lungs and meaning it.  To his credit, Murphy succeeds in creating quite a bit of laugh-out loud moments in many of the ridiculous comedic set pieces.  It helps that the pair – he and Shahidi who plays the daughter work extremely well together.

The problem with IMAGINE THAT is the film’s obvious lack of imagination.  The story runs out of steam really quickly with it calling the actors to undergo similar scenes like Murphy being beaten up by kids (why do kids or even adults find this funny is beyond me…) or Murphy performing silly choreography.  Worst still supporting actor Hayden Church (SIDEWAYS) is no comedian.  His scenes requiring him to jump around is plain painful to watch.

The major surprise of IMAGINE THAT is the small role performed by a kid known as ‘the kid’ played by Bobb’e J. Thimpson who gives Evan (literally) a run for his money.  He has two scenes in the movie, but this kid is going places.  IMAGINE THAT!