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Imagine That
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Fantasy
Written by:
Ed Solomon
Chris Matheson
Directed by: Karey Kirkpatrick
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 12, 2009
DVD: November 24, 2009
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: USA | Germany
Summary
RATING: PG for some mild language and brief questionable behavior
Starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Yara Shahidi, Nicole Ari Parker, Ronny Cox, and Martin Sheen
A successful financial executive has more time for his blackberry than his seven-year-old daughter, but 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. (Paramount Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Over the Hedge
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
TV Guide Perry Seibert
By no means a landmark, but it is a remarkably pleasant surprise -- so few movies aimed for the whole family show an understanding of why it's actually healthy to pretend.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Mr. Murphy rises to every occasion, not only with the crisp wit that has long been his hallmark, but with restraint and tenderness that serve him well.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Eddie Murphy strikes the right balance between silliness and pathos in this screwball family comedy.
Read Full Review >Washington Post John Anderson
It's refreshing that in effects-happy Hollywood, Evan and Olivia only imagine their travels, rather than run a gantlet of computerized hallucinations. This may turn out to be one of the more endearing aspects of Imagine That to its younger audiences.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
The result is a much more playable film than recent efforts, though Murphy will have to share the applause with young Yara Shahidi.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
All in all, Imagine That is an amiable detour from its star's usual scatological skronk. Kids will empathize, parents will breathe a sigh of relief.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Gary Goldstein
Despite an overly broad third act, one can't fault the film's message of family unity, underscored by a memorable use of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love."
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
While Imagine That falls short of its feel-good aim, its feel-nice vibe is a good Father's Day diversion for Dads and their spawn.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
Twenty-five years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine that Imagine That would see Eddie Murphy and The Beatles coming together to create family entertainment, but I'll be darned if it doesn't work.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
For the first time since "The Nutty Professor," Eddie Murphy successfully mixes his adult and kid-film personas -- imagine that.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Nick Pinkerton
Imagine That does manage to get a crowd tearing up on cue for its emotional climax; as much as it works, it's through the personal charm of Murphy and Shahidi.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
There's something sweet about the way that Murphy throws himself into this piffle. Thomas Haden Church does too.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Eddie Murphy in another mediocre family comedy? Imagine that.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
An Eddie Murphy comedy that's actually endearing.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Though Imagine That's message is benign, its adult focus is off-base, and every move feels too familiar, formulaic and telegraphed.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Amy Binacolli
The plot turns distasteful and shrill before its tidy resolution at the close.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Though he commits to a lot of embarrassing silliness, Murphy projects so little genuine warmth that his transformation barely registers.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Watching Imagine That, I was beset by a feeling of intense depression. Is this what Eddie Murphy has become?
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Cutesy? My pain was acutesy as the entire plot yawned before me.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H gave it a5:
Way too cute for my taste. Eddie Murphy does try, but with material as sappy as this it doesn’t do much good. It is filled with cliches, I lost interest about halfway through. I was not impressed.
Donna W gave it a5:
Funny, light-hearted but predictable outcome. Vanessa Williams performance is pretty lackluster.
kg m gave it a4:
Thomas Haden Church is brilliant as Johnny Whitefeather—especially in the first 10-15 minutes. Yara Shahidi is adorable and Eddie Murphy holds down the fort. The story certainly isn’t very deep, and the lesson isn’t much more than trite but at least the filmmaker keeps it clean and family oriented. The one significant flaw is in her daughter’s imaginary world Murphy can never see into it (that’s fine) but we never get to see his daughter’s vision and that really hurts the potential beauty and poignancy of this flick.
Lester E gave it an8:
Our family enjoyed the movie, funny and charming. I think more people should keep an open mind. I think Eddie Murphy is getting a bad rap since his last few movies bombed.
Chad S gave it a2:
[***SELF-POLICING SPOILER ALERT***] Olivia(Yara Shahidi) is daddy's little executive. Although the film pretends otherwise, there's a strong possibility that she's the one with the shrewd business mind. The audience never sees Olivia's imaginary friends. Unlike Disney's "The Barefoot Executive" where the audience sees the network television programming chimp that Steven Post(Kurt Russell) exploits for his own personal gain. Since you can compensate a lower primate with bananas, there's nothing particularly unethical about the opportunistic mailboy taking all the credit for Raffles' media savviness. But your own flesh and blood? Evan(Eddie Murphy) has no scruples. The financial executive never considers the possibility that Olivia might be a child prodigy. If he did, another Lennon-esque title, "Gimme Some Truth", would emerge out from the film's subtext and cannibalize the bizarre children's movie's premise about a cabal of princesses who crunch numbers. "Imagine That" knows less about its demographics than the concurrent "Land of the Lost". In "Drop Dead Fred", Phoebe Cates saw her imaginary friend, whereas the little girl in "Opal Dream"(based on the novel "Pobby and Dingan" by Ben Rice) doesn't. Both films knew its respective audiences. Meanwhile, "Imagine That" has Eddie Murphy mugging for the camera, to little comedic effect, before thrusting his business portfolios at the thin air. Blanket, my ass. Olivia is at that tender age where children don't want to beat their parents. That's why she takes no credit for her father's success.
Fred W gave it a0:
You will have to imagine that Eddie Murphy is still funny if you want to get a laugh out of this movie.
Paul S gave it a0:
Imagine that Eddie Murphy is still funny, becuase he sure ain't in this movie.
