Tonight:
2°c
Evening Standard rating
Imagine That is a dull family comedy
14 Aug 2009
After the scatological Norbit, which made a killing despite a critical bashing, Eddie Murphy returns in a family comedy directed by Karey Kirkpatrick.
It got a much better reception from the American critics but flopped at the box office.
Murphy plays Evan, a would-be financial wizard who is stymied for promotion at work by a pseudo-mystical Native American called Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church).
At home, he is tormented by his small daughter (Yara Shahidi) for never being there when it matters. She relapses into a fantasy world with a security blanket called her goo-gaa.
He’s a torn man — but the little girl saves him, thanks to share tips she picks up courtesy of the princesses she visits through the blanket. He also manages to see off Whitefeather: his boss (Martin Sheen) is impressed by the fact that he runs out of a vital interview to go to his daughter’s school concert.
It’s anodyne stuff and not funny enough; Murphy struts his stuff but Shahidi beats him in the charm stakes.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
