Imagine That (Blu-ray) (2009)

"Eddie Murphy strikes the right balance between silliness and pathos in this screwball family comedy.  Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
"Superior family fare.  Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun

Editor's Note A formerly successful businessman (Eddie Murphy) watches as his own stock plummets, but his salvation may be found in his daughter's imagination in this fantasy-fueled comedy.

	Yara Shahidi
	Martin Sheen
	Thomas Haden Church
	Ronny Cox
	Nicole Ari Parker
	Eddie Murphy
	Ric Kidney - Executive Producer
	John Lindley - Director of Photography
	Mark Mancina - Composer
	Lorenzo Di Bonaventura - Producer
	Ed Solomon - Screenwriter
	Chris Matheson - Screenwriter
	Ed Solomon - Producer
	Karey Kirkpatrick - Director

Hollywood Reporter
"What quickly yanks the story into a fresh realm in this screenplay by Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson are a daughter's imaginary friends." 06/07/2009

Variety
"[It's] likely that parents and their young offspring will be enchanted by those scenes in which the only special effect is the warm chemistry generated between sly pro Murphy and charming newcomer Shahidi." 06/07/2009

Chicago Sun-Times
"Murphy stays interestingly in character....The film is really about the father-daughter relationship, and Murphy comes through as sincere, confused, lonely and with a good heart." 06/10/2009

Los Angeles Times
"Murphy's his usual creative, quicksilver self....When he's on top of his game, particularly during several virtuoso comic sequences, you remember why Murphy ears the big bucks." 06/12/2009

Wall Street Journal
"[The] child -- she's played by Yara Shahidi -- leads Mr. Murphy back to his own gifts, and she complements him in one delicate comic sequence after another." 06/12/2009

Washington Post
"[A] redemptive act for Murphy....[He's] believable, sympathetic and often very funny..." 06/12/2009

Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
Eddie Murphy's new family comedy "Imagine That" is a pleasant, unassuming fantasy in which a high-powered investment adviser gets advice from his daughter's imaginary friends. We never see the friends, but we see a great deal of the daughter, in a charming performance from newcomer Yara Shahidi...She plays Olivia, 7 years old, who doesn't see nearly enough of her daddy. He is Evan Danielson (Murphy), who is competing for a big promotion at his Denver firm. Olivia is being raised by his former wife (Nicole Ari Parker), who insists it is time for the child to spend some quality time with her father...The third major role, by Thomas Haden Church, is an interesting invention: an Indian con man, trading on his background to score points in the boardroom, steamrolling clients with his people's lore. This is funny. Is it offensive? Not when we find out more about Johnny Whitefeather...So all of these elements are present and supply nice moments, but director Karey Kirkpatrick, the writer of animated films like "Chicken Run" and "Over the Hedge," never brings them to takeoff velocity. They rest on the screen, pleasant, amusing, but too predictable for grown-ups and not broad enough for children. I couldn't believe it counts on one of the most exhausted cliches in the movies, the parent making a dramatic late entrance to a child's big concert...Still, think about this: If the investment gurus of Wall Street had turned to their kids for advice, we might not be in such a mess. - Roger Ebert