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Imagine That

5/10

Stars: Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Nicole Ari Parker, Vanessa Williams, Martin Sheen, Richard Schiff, Yara Shahidi

Director: Karey Kirkpatrick

Not good, though not as bad as Murphy's recent record in comedy might lead you to expect, this is the star in family mood, as a busy executive with a divorced wife (Williams), and a precocious six-year-old daughter, Olivia (Shahidi) who, like Schultz's Linus, refuses to be parted from her blanket, even at school.

At work, Eddie faces new competition from Johnny White Feather (Haden Church), whose super-confident approach threatens Eddie's ascension to the higher office soon to be vacated by Ronny Cox (Murphy's old vis-a-vis from Beverly Hills Cop days).

Fortunately, Olivia and her blanket come to the rescue, as the fairy denizens of the blanket successfully forecast the rise and fall of companies, to Murphy's joy and Haden Church's discomfort. However, when Eddie is parted from his blanket, his life threatens to fall apart.

All this results in a fairly unbearable comedy with Murphy not looking as if he believes a word of it. The kid, though, is very talented, and the film is tolerable enough for those in search of a light and undemanding evening.

David Quinlan

USA 2009. UK Distributor: Paramount. Colour by deluxe.
107 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: PG.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 08 Aug 2009