Imagine That (2009)

Director:

Karey Kirkpatrick

Writers (WGA):

Ed Solomon (written by) &
Chris Matheson (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Investment Deal | Home Invasion | Private School | Pancake | Husband Wife Relationship

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Imagine that - Die Kraft der Fantasie (Germany)
Me & Olivia (USA) (working title)
NowhereLand (USA) (working title)
Zuhause ist der Zauber los (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and brief questionable behavior.

Runtime:

USA:107 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #44207) | Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG | Peru:PT | Mexico:A | Sweden:Btl | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When Evan is in his house the first night that he has Olivia, she comes out of her bedroom and goes to sleep on the lounge chair in the same room Evan is working. When Olivia first gets on the lounge her slippers are near the foot of the lounge. A couple of clips later you will see them near the head of the bed.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: (#1.7)" (2009)

What audience is this supposed to be aimed at?

I just saw this film with a group of children, whom we took as part of our Holiday Care programme here in Brisbane, Australia. As there were no toilet trips, I actually managed to see it all!

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good and entertaining film, but it was hard to know to whom it was aimed at. The business meetings Murphy went to and various discussions about same were certainly not down to children's levels, and a lot of kids in the cinema clearly got quite restless, including some of ours, at least one of whom complained about the movie being "boring". But when Murphy went on his comedy antics, it was a bit too juvenile for adults.

I thought Eddie was great, as was Yara Shahidi as the young girl, in an absolutely lovely, natural performance, while Thomas Haden Church was amusing as the fake Indian. But what was with the imaginary friends?? Were they real? If not, how did the girl get all the right information about the businesses? If they were... well... the film didn't seem to relay that. Wasn't it all generally another morality tale about parent/child bonding?

And what was with all the Beatles songs?

Certainly a pretty entertaining picture, but who is it for?