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Another Eddie Murphy movie suckfest! Capone reviews IMAGINE THAT!!!
Hey, all. Capone in Chicago here.
The good news is: Eddie Murphy has made far worse films than IMAGINE THAT. There are no fat suits to be found and no Murphy playing a stereotypical old Asian man or him doing anything even remotely offensive outside of yelling at the occasional child. The bad news is: Eddie Murphy is still making the most consistently crappy films aimed at "family" audiences that the world has ever seen. I've given up trying to understand how Murphy lost his spine, or why I still get excited when he does something unexpected (like DREAMGIRLS or BOWFINGER). I got a review copy the other day of EDDIE MURPHY: DELIRIOUS, and my heart sank a little. What happened to that guy, those jokes, that edge, and the bold fashion statement that only red vinyl can make? But enough living in the past; let's give the crappy movies of today a chance!
IMAGINE THAT is about a crappy divorced dad named Evan (Murphy), whose young daughter Olivia (Yara Shahidi) appears to retreat into an imaginary world filled with kings, queens and princesses as a result of her parents' breakup. She has latched onto her blanket, which she drapes over her head to see and talk to this cast of make-believe friends, and it's beginning to take a toll on her school behavior and interactions with other children. Olivia is staying with her father for a few months (a situation that is never fully explained), although her mother (Nicole Ari Parker) is clearly in the picture, but he's a busy financial executive in line to take over his branch when his boss steps down. Not needing the distraction of his daughter at this time, Evan basically ignores her except when she disrupts his work.
However, one day he discovers that his daughter's imaginary friends somehow are able to analyze the financial stability of the companies he's doing research on for his clients and tell Olivia whether they are worth buying into or selling off. Their predictions are 100 percent correct, but in order to get the information from them, Evan must enter their world with his daughter and believe in their existence. Thankfully, director Karey Kirkpatrick (director of the vastly superior animated work OVER THE HEDGE) doesn't show us these invisible characters or their kingdom. We're not supposed to believe they exist, even though they are producing some fantastic results. He relies on Murphy and Shahidi's acting to convince us these people and places exist, and for the most part they do a pretty solid job getting excited enough about spending time together that the film's far-fetched plot doesn't annoy us.
Adding to some of the nice touches the film has to offer is Thomas Hayden Church as Whitefeather, another executive at Murphy's company vying for the same job he is. Whitefeather, as you might have guessed, is Native American, and he uses some of the teachings of his people to help him make his financial decisions. Kids are not going to get the jokes by and about Whitefeather, but he may be the only reason adults laugh during this movie. He's ridiculous, and without giving anything away, the character is playing a role of sorts so you don't have to feel bad about laughing at an Indian. Enjoy his scenes while you can, because the rest of the movie isn't nearly as fun.
Forgetting, if you can, that the premise of IMAGINE THAT is a man using his daughter to get ahead in business so he can ultimately spend less time with her, even if you're able to see this as a movie about a father finding the value in his daughter's company, it's still kind of awful. Yes, there's a big scene in which Murphy must publically embarrass himself in front of a large crowd to regain his kid's trust (it's a Hollywood comedy — of course there's a scene like that). The simple fact is that every single move this film makes is projected several scenes in advance, with the exception of some of the outrageous stuff that comes out of Whitefeather's mouth, and eventually even that character succumbs to predictability. And don't even get me going on the Martin Sheen cameo as the head of Murphy's company who must ultimately make the decision about which man to hire for the open job. I know Sheen isn't easily humiliated (look who his kids are for Christ's sake), but what the hell, man?
For me, the sure-fire test as to whether a movie aimed at youngsters is any good is whether the kids the audience I saw it with seemed interested in what was going on. The screening I went to was a frickin' zoo, with kids running around, taking, and doing pretty much anything but watch this miserable movie. Here's a hint: kids don't care about finance unless it involves their allowance or the tooth fairy. If you're foolish enough to get caught dead watch Imagine That, prepare to be in a constant state of agony for 80-some minutes. Enjoy!
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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Man. I hate first posters. Especially when they are actually second. Like me, probably.
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Will be "First!" . . . about a crazy guy who makes a lot of funny faces who keeps "First!" posting, until other Talkbackers hunt him down, and wild comedy ensues.
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is a 1986 Buick, which will also be his next home.
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"Sheen isn't easily humiliated (look at who his kids are, for Christ's sake), but what the hell, man?"
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Eddie Murphy, as best I recall, doesn't do promotional appearances (I may be dead wrong on this; if so, I'm sure someone will kindly point it out). But last week, there he was on Conan's show, even talking a bit about Saturday Night Live, though he was the ONLY cast member from ANY season who refused to be interviewed by Tom Shales for his SNL book a few years ago. Point is--maybe he's finally nearing a point where he'll realize this isn't working for him, and go back to actually being entertaining again.
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He totally lost any edge he had back in the 80's. All he does is yell.
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for fucking up the careers of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy. Both of them have only made SHIT since 2001 (with the exception of Dreamgirls, which was not an Eddie Murphy vehicle)
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Didn't Eddie Murphy say he would retire from movies and go back to stand up? WTF happened?
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Is Eddie was on a verge of a "comeback" with Dreamgirls. He showed the world he still had an edge and was still funny without the fat suits.
He was nominated for an Oscar and it was even rumored that Beverly hills cop was looking to be revisited.
Unfortunately for whatever reason, fucking Norbit was released onto the world, and everything that I hoped for was flushed down the toilet along with that shitfest! -
In the next Quentin Tarintino flick. Or something like that. Nothing from Happy Madison, though.I'm surprised he hasn't done more movies like Boomerang. That worked as a romantic comedy. Something different from the family pabulum (nothing against family flicks, but the stuff Eddie does is generally a poor excuse for a "family movie") he seems stuck in.Pluto Nash wasn't nearly as bad as they made it out to be. I will say that. You want a bad movie, go look to Uwe Boll. Man, Bloodrayne was trash. At least the extended cut had ridiculously long, lingering shots of blood gushing out of obviously fake prosthetic arms and bodies. But still . . .
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Pluto Nash was balls. That is all.
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I'll tell you what agony is. Agony is consistently having to read poor grammar, spelling and sentence structure on this site. I know that the standard "word" programs come with a spell checker and I do believe most of them even come with grammar suggestions. Do most of you guys ignore these things? Some of you are pretty bad about this, so I have learned to just stop reading the review half way through - only to hurriedly go below to post an asinine comment.
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It's spelled 'legitimate'. That's pretty funny, yeah?
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Charlie Murphy should go out on a comedy tour and perform "a tribute to 80's Eddie Murphy". I'd go see that shit.
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I could have sworn my post was perfect!! SHIT!!!!
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It's ALWAYS the father who's the humorless grump who refuses to spend time with his kids because he's too busy WORKING HIS ASS OFF TO PUT FOOD ON THEIR PLATES. Just ONCE I'd like to see a family movie where it's the MOTHER who's cast in a bad light. Hey kids, what would you rather have...a father who will be at your beck and call for every asinine whim, or one who will keep a roof over your head and expensive toys in your closet?
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Don't worry, I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken... :-)
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Really? You know that one liner is old, right? I hope so.
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And it is grammatically correct. The best kind of correct.
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that comedic actors get unfunny as they get old. The only old guys who seem to buck the trend and not consistently are Steve Martin and Bill Murray. I still long for the days when Eddie Murphy, Dan Ackroyd, Chevy Chase, etc. were actually funny. I maintain that SNL has been lame for the last decade or so because Loren Michaels is too old to recognize what is funny anymore and probably squashes some of the funniest proposed bits.
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But he's the exception.
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I think if you are making exceptions the top of your list should have George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield, Don Rickles.
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No he didn't. He got grumpier and meaner. Angry yelling is not comedy.
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Jun 12, 2009 11:12:19 AM CDT
Sounds like a interesting premise so WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?!
by hollywoodhellraiser
Oh well I knew it was fuck when I heard Murphy was starring in it!
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Eddie Murphy has probably made more money off of the Shrek movies than any other property he has been involved with, so it doesn't suprise that he tries to keep it kid friendly these days; depsite the questionable material he has picked
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You want to see a movie like the one you described where it's the mom who's s piece of crap? Watch TAKEN - as much as I enjoyed the movie, I especially enjoyed seeing the mom be the bitch for once - and WOW, is she an evil bitch and wholly responsbile for every bad thing that happens. Basically, she's karmically responsible for hundreds of lost lives and the destruction of an entire city's infrastructure, a terrorist bidding war on her daughter and the possible rape of her own kid. NICE one, MOM!
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All they need to do is bland impressions, wacky characters ("She falls through walls" / "She has just a little mass" / "Watch out world, here's Helen Zass!"), and obvious-broad social/political "satire" and they've got monster ratings. Who'd'a'thunk'it?
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I was waiting for Liam to go ballistic on that bitch and throw her under a passing bus!
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Oh, Eddy. You could do better, but you don't care as long as you get paid. Time to stop making movies.
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Jun 12, 2009 12:52:26 PM CDT
Can you honestly remember the last time Eddie Murphy made you la
by keeper of chimps
I think it was Trading Places. Even Beverly Hills Cop was way overrated and sucked.
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Where have you gone????? You don't owe us anything but you must be aware that you suck these days, right? - We miss you Eddie. We do.
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My last recorded Eddie Murphy-inspired laugh: The character of Kit Ramsey (and his twin brother) in Bowfinger. Of course, that character was courtesy of Steve Martin.
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Eddie Murphy was never funny.
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....of course I don't genuinely believe that. But the big problem is I'm fast forgetting anything that made me laugh starring Eddie Murphy (other than Trading Places) due to the pure amount of shite he has been involved with. Surely by this point he has made more terrible films than funny ones?
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SNL has been afraid to take risks far longer than it has been painfully unfunny. I think the last cast that really had any real cutting edge comedy other than on Weekend Update was the All Star cast with Billy Crystal, Martin Short, etc. I mean the Dan Hartman, Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley eras mostly played it safe, but they played it funny though. At least far more than they have over the last decade. It isn't as bad as the Horatio Sanz/Jimmy Fallon years where they passed comedy off as breaking character and laughing at your own lame jokes. But is is pretty bad.
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WTF?
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Bowfinger. Ten years ago.
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Point taken. ;)
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Damn these eyes! Too late!
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to be Edward Murphy right now. The dude can't catch a break.
Ok, he got an Oscar nod for Dreamgirls, but he's treading water in Steve Martin, I have to prove I'm still relevant mode.
Actually Steve Martin has always been funny. -
Actually, I struggle to remember the last time Steve Martin was funny. Recently re-watched The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and he is on fire in those, utterly brilliant. Then I try to think of anything from the last 15 years that he's made which has been funny...and I come up blank.
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Bowfinger.
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his last 10 years or so. Watch the late 70's stuff, he was on fire. An angry old man delivering long lectures without punchlines isnt funny. If you want a truly awkward viewing experience, watch any of his HBO standups of the past 10 years or so, and watch as the applause and laughs gradually fade away til about 20 minutes in, all your getting is kind of uncomfortable polite applause as people in the audience realize "wow, he really isnt that funny anymore".
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is starting to suffer the same "pissed off dude isnt actually all that funny" affliction, his recent HBO standup couldnt touch his early work.
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Make it so.
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That's exactly what I'd say to Eddie Murphy if I met him.this guy used to be great and made alot of great movies that made me laugh.Now He's Become another paycheck whore phoning it in for all these forgetable disposable pieces of shit.It's fucking disgusting that people will sell out so bad that they have no artistic credibility left.wouldn't you rather work for scale and make a masterpiece or a film of substance instead of one awful film after the other with the only thing coming your way a fat paycheck.it's sad
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Because they start believing their own hype, and just think anything they say will be funny. They go on these late night shows and just act like buffoons and because of their reputation, people are more apt to laugh at their antics. As Apollo said to Rocky in Rocky III, "They lose the eye of the tiger." as these guys lose that edge. Now there are exceptions, but look at Eddies early work on SNL, 48 Hours, Trading Places, Bev Hills Cop, Coming to America, and after that.....crap for the past 20 years. Chevy Chase, Jim Carrey, Bill Murray, all guys that I love their early work and don't do squat when they finally make it big.
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But I never knew what they movie wanted to be. Was it supposed to be funny like Coming to America or all serious and shit about racism and civil rights? Any ways I miss Eddie Murphy being funny. Thank God for Charlie Murphy. Wonder why he and Eddie havn't done acting or comedy together? They could do two hours worth of Charlie Murphys true hollywood stories and that shit would kill. If Chapelle don't want to be invovlved fuck him. We need more of that shit.
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I heard a rumor once that all the family friendly stuff was a response/ultimatum from his wife after he got caught "carpooling" with that hooker on sunset in the 90s.
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I guess what it boils down to is hunger.when your young and hungry you have nothing to lose.then they get successful and rich surrounded by yes men and people stroking their ego and beleive their own hype and get comfortable.it happens in music and movies all the time.
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C-I-L-L my landlord... We miss you Eddie. And Steve martin has always been funny
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I guess in context ok eddie ain't so bad
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See that Zany Crazy GUY like you've NEVER seen him before!
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