Review of Imagine That (2009) by Chads — 14 Jun 2009

[***SELF-POLICING SPOILER ALERT***] Olivia(Yara Shahidi) is daddy's little executive. Although the film pretends otherwise, there's a strong possibility that she's the one with the shrewd business mind.

The audience never sees Olivia's imaginary friends. Unlike Disney's "The Barefoot Executive" where the audience sees the network television programming chimp that Steven Post(Kurt Russell) exploits for his own personal gain.

Since you can compensate a lower primate with bananas, there's nothing particularly unethical about the opportunistic mailboy taking all the credit for Raffles' media savviness. But your own flesh and blood? Evan(Eddie Murphy) has no scruples.

The financial executive never considers the possibility that Olivia might be a child prodigy. If he did, another Lennon-esque title, "Gimme Some Truth", would emerge out from the film's subtext and cannibalize the bizarre children's movie's premise about a cabal of princesses who crunch numbers.

"Imagine That" knows less about its demographics than the concurrent "Land of the Lost". In "Drop Dead Fred", Phoebe Cates saw her imaginary friend, whereas the little girl in "Opal Dream"(based on the novel "Pobby and Dingan" by Ben Rice) doesn't.

Both films knew its respective audiences. Meanwhile, "Imagine That" has Eddie Murphy mugging for the camera, to little comedic effect, before thrusting his business portfolios at the thin air.

Blanket, my ass. Olivia is at that tender age where children don't want to beat their parents. That's why she takes no credit for her father's success.