IMAGINE THAT review by Gary Dean Murray

Eddie Murphy is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. His movies have made millions of dollars, thrilling hoardes of fans. But he has gone from an R-rated wise-cracking street hustler to a PG-rated dad figure. His turn to family films has been dismissed by some and embraced by others. His newest Dad figure is in the very uneven Imagine That.

As the film opens, our former SNL star plays Evan, a single Dad who is breaking into a house. Caught, he screams that he need his blanket, his goo-ga. Then we go back to the beginning of the story. Evan is a Denver investment analysis manager who has been running on a very high streak. But lately his investment advice has been challenged by a new employee, a Native American Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church). Johnny talks in mystic terms and summons warrior spirits to guide his clients. This dog and pony show has been working so well that he has been the top performer for the last six months.

Evan is divorced from his wife Trish (Nichole Ari Parker) and has a young daughter Olivia (Yara Shahidi). The kid lives in a fantasy land, using her blanket to talk to some imaginary princesses. This behavior worries the teachers and the parents. Evan is a stand-off parent, not knowing how to relate to his child. But since its Eddie's week to keep his daughter, he dutifully takes on the task.

Through a weak plot device, Evan has to take Olivia to work with him. Just before a presentation he finds that Olivia has been coloring and drawing all over his documents. At the presentation, he discovers that Johnny Whitefeather has made a move to take away Evan's biggest client. This causes Evan to snap and he starts ranting using the decorated documents calling two companies in love and one a poop-pants. Figuring that he is going to be fired after the outburst, Eddie is called into the office of the boss. Inside, he finds that all the scribbling on his documents are actual inside investment tips and they are all correct. Somehow, Olivia through her playing with imaginary princesses has a way to financial insights.

The movie is about how Evan bonds with his daughter all the time getting information that everyone else thinks is insider trading. Call it a combination of Trading Places and Dr. Doolittle.

The scenes between Eddie and Yara are just wonderful and you wish the film would have concentrated more on them. Watching Eddie go through the rituals of traveling through the imaginary forest to get to the sage royalty are just comic gold. He looks as though he's having the the time of his life playing this part. Another scene that just works is when they are making pancakes. The simple moments of life are the strength of the screenplay.

But so much does not work in the world of Imagine That. The entire sub-plot device of real world competition just feels forced and unnecessary. I did think that the mystery elements of how a kid knows so much about finance are left to the imagination of imaginary characters. The ambivalence of the how and the why are just a nice magical touch.

Though Thomas Haden Church is funny in his over the top performance, it seems that it comes from some other movie. The film is a few minutes short of two hours, which is a good fifteen minutes too long. A tighter editing job would have helped the pace of the final product.

Director Karey Kirkpatrick never gets a handle on the kind of film to make. There are sweet moments crammed against manic ones without a concrete focus on either. The mishmash of styles does a disservice to some nice little vignettes.

If you are looking for a good family film, there are better choices in the Cineplex than Imagine That. It is better than many of the flicks Eddie has done in the last few years, but still a far distance from his glory days.

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