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June 11, 2009

Eddie Murphy gets upstaged by a kid? Imagine That!





 

“Imagine That”

Paramount Pictures

Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick

Starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Yara Shahidi, Nicole Ari Parker, Ronny Cox, Martin Sheen and DeRay Davis

Rated PG

 

2 1/2 Stars         

 

“Imagine That,” Eddie Murphy’s latest family comedy is certainly cute, but it’s not funny enough to be memorable, and its corporate culture setting won’t appeal to the young kids that the filmmakers are hoping to please. Which makes the film is a bit of a mess; yet while my brain wants to slam it, my heart keeps reminding me that Murphy and his young co-star (Yara Shahidi) have real chemistry in this touching daddy-daughter fable.

Like I said, “Imagine That” is cute, and for the right audience, perhaps just cute enough to be worth your movie-going dollars.

Murphy stars as a workaholic financial advisor, a man who’s competing with a rival (Thomas Hayden Church) for a promotion at his firm. He hasn’t been a very good father to his young daughter (Shahidi) until he realizes that her imaginary friends are giving her spot-on financial advice. So desperate dad decides to play along, singing and dancing and playing with his daughter, initially hoping to coax out some magical stock tips, but ultimately coming to realize that he should be devoting his time and energy on his daughter rather than his career.

It’s exactly the warm-and-fuzzy story that you would expect from a family film, although perhaps a bit too routine for one with the title “Imagine That.” We never see the imaginary friends, and the situational humor is rather pedestrian. Murphy gets to clown around, but he never really engages his comic imagination, turning in a rather lazy performance that seldom evokes laughter.

On the other hand, Yara Shahidi is a real find—cute as a button and spunky to boot. Perhaps Murphy is wisely toning down his act in order to let the Shahidi steal all of their scenes (which she does). I suspect that there are a lot of parents out there who will gush over the daddy-daughter moments and the family-first life lesson.

But they won’t laugh.

Ultimately, “Imagine That” is saccharine-sweet enough for those who will be satisfied with a mild FAMILY-comedy. Those who’d prefer a family-COMEDY, where humor reins supreme, will find “Imagine That” to be a something of a disappointment.

Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published bi-weekly in “The Port Arthur News” and weekly on KFDM-TV. You can also follow Seanthemovie guy on Twitter. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kbcitv.com.

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