Imagine That (2009)

A financial executive who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.

Director:

Karey Kirkpatrick

Writers:

Ed Solomon, Chris Matheson

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Yara Shahidi

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Evan Danielson
Thomas Haden Church	...	Johnny Whitefeather
Yara Shahidi	...	Olivia Danielson
Ronny Cox	...	Tom Stevens
Stephen Rannazzisi	...	Noah Kulick
Nicole Ari Parker	...	Trish
DeRay Davis	...	John Strother
Vanessa Williams	...	Lori Strother
Martin Sheen	...	Dante D'Enzo
Lauren Weedman	...	Rose
Timm Sharp	...	Tod
Daniel Polo	...	Indigo
Stephen Root	...	Fred Franklin
Richard Schiff	...	Carl Simons
Marin Hinkle	...	Ms. Davis

Storyline

A financial executive who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.

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Plot Keywords:

red bull | home invasion | trampoline | workplace bullying | native american | 

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Taglines:

What if your daughter's imagination... Was the secret to your success?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language and brief questionable behavior

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Me & Olivia

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,503,519 (USA) (12 June 2009)

Gross:

$16,088,610 (USA) (14 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Di Bonaventura Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is one of three family-friendly films released by Paramount Pictures that star Thomas Haden Church, after Over the Hedge and Charlotte's Web. Incidentally, Church became famous playing Lowell Mather on the Paramount-produced TV series Wings.

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Goofs

In the big meeting with D'Enzo, he states (referring to Johnny Whitefeather) "And your great-grandfather was one-half Navaho. So what would that make you? One-thirty-second?" This is factually wrong. If his great-grandfather was half Navaho, then he would be 1/16th Navaho (his grandfather would be 1/4 and his father would be 1/8th). Martin Sheen either read the line wrong and it should have been "great great-grandfather", or it was simply written wrong.

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Quotes

Tod: Mr. E, I talked to the lawyer guy upstairs and he confirmed my hunch, uh, about the whole stabbing of Mr. Whitefeather thing. It's a definite no can do from a legal standpoint.

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Connections

References The Lion King (1994)

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Soundtracks

"All You Need Is Love"
Written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Performed by Paulist Choristers of California
Soloists: Yara Shahidi & Roarke Mackey

User Reviews

Imagine That Movie Review from The Massie Twins

Eddie Murphy frequently goes as overboard as Jim Carrey or Robin Williams, but Imagine That manages to have just the right amount of silly. It's a family friendly movie that fortunately presents equal doses of immaturity and seriousness, making the event more evenly entertaining than one might expect from seeing the obnoxiously childish trailer. Performances on a whole are sincere (subdued for Murphy) and convincing; unlike similarly plotted stories like Disney's The Game Plan, Imagine That never gets to the point of annoying, which is becoming a more and more difficult feat for formulaic yet effective children's features.

Focused, driven, and always in control, Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy) is a financial wizard, organizing and leading his many clients in the direction of monetary prosperity. This doesn't leave much time for his seven-year-old daughter Olivia (Yara Shahidi), who is socially detached and dependent on her security blanket (named Goo-Gaa) that transports her to an imaginary world with princesses and dragons. It's all in her mind, but when Evan plays along, Olivia's invisible friends miraculously produce accurate advice on stocks, investments and insider tips. Suddenly he's immersed in his daughter's invented fantasy, forcing himself to redefine his relationship with Olivia and the meaning of true success.

"I imagine it was a lot of fun to watch," Evan remarks after undergoing his inevitable early-movie mental breakdown. That might be a slightly generous statement in regards to the entire film, which maintains a worthwhile level of lighthearted humor and father-daughter relationship-mending drama. It isn't overly preachy even though at times it's sickly sweet; Murphy's likable Evan is a man who wanted kids but probably shouldn't have had one, especially considering his relatable lack of time and subsequent failure to connect with his daughter. Learning to be a better parent through success and defeat with initial manipulation followed by quality bonding, the process is understandably generic - the blueprints for this family flick aren't original but definitely more watchable than similar exploits that can't seem to include any mature bits for older crowds (such as the parental audience assumed to be present with children).

Supporting character actor Ronny Cox plays a role comparable to his famous villain turns in Robocop and Total Recall and Thomas Haden Church steals many scenes as Johnny Whitefeather, a competitive financial executive who exaggeratingly mocks Native American culture with creatively hilarious quotes and unorthodox meditative methods for gaining stock market knowledge ("It's not the paint that makes the warrior," he advises Evan, along with constant references to the "dream sparrow," insulting "little elk" nicknames and other funny Indian riffs). He's quite convincingly phony. There's nothing artificial about the film as a whole, however, which makes Imagine That quality family amusement, even if it doesn't exude total originality.

• Mike Massie