Imagine That

Eddie Murphy in a bad movie. Imagine That.

How do you a review a movie that is almost an exact replica of another recent film, just without all the good, fun stuff? This has happened before. Remember Armageddon and Deep Impact? Same movie, just one was fun and the other wasn’t. It’s happened again. This time, it started with Adam Sandler’s family flick Bedtime Stories and ends with Eddie Murphy’s Imagine That.

Both movies feature lonely adult males getting wrapped up and involved in the make-believe worlds of the imaginative children around them – even to the point where they can’t live without it. What happens in the imaginary world of the kids comes true in reality. Not a bad take on fairytales, right? It’s too bad that only one of the movies gets it right – Bedtime Stories.

Eddie Murphy plays Evan, a businessman so wrapped up in his work that it cost him his marriage and left him a mostly absent father that only sees his daughter on select occasions. While taking care of her for a full week, Evan realizes that the supposed business-related predictions of his daughter’s imaginary friends come true. Once Evan realizes this, he begins using his daughter and her magical friends for success. Along the way, he begins even begins a healthy relationship with his daughter.

Imagine That‘s story doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, it’s in the execution of this could-be “family” film that it lacks. Even though Evan journeys with his daughter into her imaginary land to visit her imaginary friends on multiple occasions, you never once get to see that world. It’s like watching Hook and never having Robin Williams get in the food fight or fly. That is where Bedtime Stories succeeds. And for this reason, I have a hard time believing that any kid would enjoy this movie. There’s nothing in it for kids to relate to. The majority of the scenes take place in a ritzy apartment or in a bland business office. As an adult I found myself bored by the settings, now imagine trying to get your kids to sit through nearly two hours of it.

Imagine That is boring. It lacks creativity. It’s not a movie that kids will sit through or enjoy. With summer here, it’s not hard to find an alternative family flick to take the kids to see. I’d rather see Up again than sit through Imagine That.

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures