NowhereLand
Encyclopedia
Imagine That is a 2009 comedy-drama
film starring Eddie Murphy
, Thomas Haden Church
, Nicole Ari Parker
, Martin Sheen
, Marin Hinkle
, and Yara Shahidi
. Imagine That takes place in Denver, Colorado
, (which can be identified by the skyline and landmarks). It centers on the relationship between a workaholic father (Eddie Murphy
), and his daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi
), whose imaginary world becomes the solution to her father's success. Among the cast is veteran actor Ronny Cox
who last starred with Eddie Murphy in his blockbuster series, Beverly Hills Cop
. This was the last Nickelodeon movie in the 2000s, and before the logo change.
) is a very successful corporate businessman, who had been working at the same company for eight years as the top man, that is until Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church
) was hired as his rival. Whitefeather seems to have the whole company under some spell as he spiels his nonsensical idioms filled with Native American mumbo jumbo. These top executives seem more content with chanting Indian style noises rather than listen to how they can make money through sound investments. When Evan finally discovers that his daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi
), is somehow able to tell the future within the business world by using her goo-gaa blanket
and her imaginary friends Princesses Kupida and Mopida, he discovers he has an invaluable upper hand now at the office.
In order for Evan to ask these imaginary friends any question he must travel through the imaginary world, through a dense forest, past a dragon, through caves, and even walk through France. Before, Evan who is a part-time father really had no time for his daughter, now is forced to play with her and by her rules. After only a couple of days with her, he rediscovers the inner child within himself and genuinely has a lot of fun playing these imaginary games with Olivia.
Whitefeather becomes suspicious and begins to search for Evan's secret. When he finds out that Evan was just playing with a blanket, he purchased a six thousand dollar blanket and forces his son to tell he the "future" and making him extremely hyperactive by making him drink many cans of Red Bull.
Whitefeather and Evan are now competing for the position of heading the western division of the company D.D.E. In order to be prepared for the most important presentation of his life, Evan must once again invoke the use of the Goo-Gaa and meet up with the princesses. The only problem is that Olivia is spending the night at her friends house, and there is no way for Evan to obtain said Goo-Gaa. Also, the presentation showdown will be held on Saturday, the day of Olivia's class play.
, who had previously worked with director Karey Kirkpatrick on Over the Hedge
. He recorded his score with an 83-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.
and Nickelodeon Movies
. Because Hotel for Dogs
was released by DreamWorks
instead of Paramount, Paramount reunited with Nickelodeon Movies to co-produce the film.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 38% of critics gave positive reviews based on 73 reviews with an average score of 5.1/10. Another review aggregator, Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average of 53% based on 22 reviews.
On its opening weekend, the film opened #6 grossing $5,503,519 in 3,008 theaters with an $1,830 average. As of August 9, 2009, the film has grossed $22,985,194 worldwide, making this a box office flop. This opened similar to Eddie Murphy's previous summer movie Meet Dave
which also opened poorly its opening week. However, Meet Dave received worse reviews than Imagine That. Murphy was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor on his work in the film.
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film starring Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
, Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
, Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe , also known as Nikki Kodjoe, is an American actress and a former model. She is perhaps best known for her role as attorney Teri Joseph on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food and her role as Becky Barnett in Boogie Nights.-Early life:Parker was born in...
, Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
, Marin Hinkle
Marin Hinkle
Marin Elizabeth Hinkle is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing the role of Judith Harper-Melnick, Alan Harper's ex-wife on the hit series Two and a Half Men and her role as Judy Brooks the sister of the series lead Lily Manning on Once and Again.-Career:Hinkle started her career on...
, and Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi
-Life and career:Shahidi was born, and raised for the first four years of her life, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to an Iranian father and an African-American mother Keri Shahidi. She moved with her family to California because of her father's work...
. Imagine That takes place in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, (which can be identified by the skyline and landmarks). It centers on the relationship between a workaholic father (Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
), and his daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi
-Life and career:Shahidi was born, and raised for the first four years of her life, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to an Iranian father and an African-American mother Keri Shahidi. She moved with her family to California because of her father's work...
), whose imaginary world becomes the solution to her father's success. Among the cast is veteran actor Ronny Cox
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...
who last starred with Eddie Murphy in his blockbuster series, Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
. This was the last Nickelodeon movie in the 2000s, and before the logo change.
Plot
Evan Danielson (Eddie MurphyEddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
) is a very successful corporate businessman, who had been working at the same company for eight years as the top man, that is until Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
) was hired as his rival. Whitefeather seems to have the whole company under some spell as he spiels his nonsensical idioms filled with Native American mumbo jumbo. These top executives seem more content with chanting Indian style noises rather than listen to how they can make money through sound investments. When Evan finally discovers that his daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi
-Life and career:Shahidi was born, and raised for the first four years of her life, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to an Iranian father and an African-American mother Keri Shahidi. She moved with her family to California because of her father's work...
), is somehow able to tell the future within the business world by using her goo-gaa blanket
Blanket
A blanket is a type of bedding, generally speaking, a large piece of cloth, intended to keep the user warm, especially while sleeping. Blankets are distinguished from sheets by their thickness and purpose; the thickest sheet is still thinner than the lightest blanket. Blankets are generally used...
and her imaginary friends Princesses Kupida and Mopida, he discovers he has an invaluable upper hand now at the office.
In order for Evan to ask these imaginary friends any question he must travel through the imaginary world, through a dense forest, past a dragon, through caves, and even walk through France. Before, Evan who is a part-time father really had no time for his daughter, now is forced to play with her and by her rules. After only a couple of days with her, he rediscovers the inner child within himself and genuinely has a lot of fun playing these imaginary games with Olivia.
Whitefeather becomes suspicious and begins to search for Evan's secret. When he finds out that Evan was just playing with a blanket, he purchased a six thousand dollar blanket and forces his son to tell he the "future" and making him extremely hyperactive by making him drink many cans of Red Bull.
Whitefeather and Evan are now competing for the position of heading the western division of the company D.D.E. In order to be prepared for the most important presentation of his life, Evan must once again invoke the use of the Goo-Gaa and meet up with the princesses. The only problem is that Olivia is spending the night at her friends house, and there is no way for Evan to obtain said Goo-Gaa. Also, the presentation showdown will be held on Saturday, the day of Olivia's class play.
Music
The score to Imagine That was composed by Mark MancinaMark Mancina
Mark Alan Mancina is a U.S. composer, primarily for Hollywood soundtracks, such as his collaboration with Trevor Rabin on the soundtrack for Con Air. He arranged many of the songs behind Disney's The Lion King including the Broadway musical...
, who had previously worked with director Karey Kirkpatrick on Over the Hedge
Over the Hedge (film)
Over the Hedge is a 2006 computer animated family action comedy film based on the characters from United Media comic strip of the same name. Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, and produced by Bonnie Arnold, it was released in the United States on May 19, 2006.The film was produced by...
. He recorded his score with an 83-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.
Reception
The film is a co-production between Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies is the motion picture production arm of children's cable channel Nickelodeon, originally launched in 1995. Its first film was Harriet the Spy. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects...
. Because Hotel for Dogs
Hotel for Dogs (film)
Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American children's comedy film based on the 1971 Lois Duncan novel of the same name. The film, directed by Thor Freudenthal and adapted by Jeff Lowell, Bob Schooley, and Mark McCorkle, stars Johnny Simmons, Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon, Kyla...
was released by DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
instead of Paramount, Paramount reunited with Nickelodeon Movies to co-produce the film.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 38% of critics gave positive reviews based on 73 reviews with an average score of 5.1/10. Another review aggregator, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average of 53% based on 22 reviews.
On its opening weekend, the film opened #6 grossing $5,503,519 in 3,008 theaters with an $1,830 average. As of August 9, 2009, the film has grossed $22,985,194 worldwide, making this a box office flop. This opened similar to Eddie Murphy's previous summer movie Meet Dave
Meet Dave
Meet Dave is a 2008 American family comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Eddie Murphy. The film was co-written by Bill Corbett and Rob Greenberg...
which also opened poorly its opening week. However, Meet Dave received worse reviews than Imagine That. Murphy was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor on his work in the film.