Movie Review - Imagine That (2009)

Starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, and Yara Shahidi
Written by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson
Directed by Karey Kilpatrick

I don't know what it says about our society when children's movies start to have their stories revolve around the stock market and insider trading. I sure as hell know that I would've had no idea about that industry when I was nine (let alone now at twenty-nine). Unfortunately, similar to this movie, Imagine That is another case of "who are they aiming this movie towards?" There's no raunchiness and it's certainly tame, but there's very little here that would keep kids occupied.

Eddie Murphy is Evan Danielson, a stocks trader who appears to be well on his way to a successful, high profile career. However, in his firm, he's got some competition from Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church) for the top spot. Whitefeather has a new approach to the firm's clients, focusing on his Native American background, that they love. When the owner of the firm announces his retirement, he says that either Evan or Johnny will get his spot and they must prove their worth within the next week.

For some reason, Evan begins to fall apart and can't seem to focus. Lucky for him, he brings his daughter Olivia to the office one day and discovers that her imaginary friends are able to pick stocks that prove successful. A series of "funny" events happen before Evan realizes that perhaps it's not the blanket that's helping him and that he's had the knowledge inside of him all along (I know, I know...total spoiler there, huh?).

Honestly, I didn't dislike this movie. That being said, I didn't really like it all that much either. Eddie Murphy could play this role in his sleep. He was acting like he has in every other "kid" movie he's been in since his "resurgence" in the last 15 years. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't particularly good. Thomas Haden Church's Johnny Whitefeather actually provided me with the most laughs. There's one scene in particular with him and his son that I found quite amusing. It certainly helps that Yara Shahidi who plays Olivia was quite good. She never seemed to cloying and she certainly held her own with the adults with whom she shared the screen. Don't even get me started, though, on Bobb'e J. Thompson...I try not to be mean to children, but I hate this kid with a passion. Why people keep giving this obnoxious joker roles (even if the role is less than five minutes long as it in this flick) is beyond me.

The movie is about 30 minutes too long, and the unfortunate thing is that it just isn't a kid-friendly story (the movie is peppered with Beatles covers which also had me asking myself, "Does a nine year-old know who the Beatles are?" Why put only Beatles songs in the movie?). I appreciate the fact that a movie comes out of Nickelodeon Studios with very little bathroom humor and minimal foul language, but this simply isn't a movie kids would enjoy. And, unfortunately, it's a little too basic for an adult to enjoy either.

The RyMickey Rating: C-