Imagine That

IT’S ONE OF those films in which an overworked dad, who never has time for his adorable kid, experiences a supernatural revelation that leads him towards an understanding of what’s really important in life. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Jim Carrey doesn’t play the hero. The better news is that the superb, often unfairly maligned Eddie Murphy somehow secured the role.

Suppress your gag reflex while we adumbrate the plot. Mr Murphy, employee of an investment firm, is under pressure at work. A hilariously pompous Native American colleague (gloriously played by Thomas Haden Church) seems to have charmed all the best clients with his pseudo-mystic financial prophesies. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Eddie’s daughter’s “imaginary friends” have scribbled nonsensical messages on his notes and sprinkled glitter across his charts.

In a moment of desperation, Eddie reads out the doodles and – you’re way ahead of me – they point the clients towards untold riches on the stock market. Suddenly, for all the wrong reasons, Eddie is friends with his daughter again.

Imagine Thatsounds utterly ghastly, but the script proves to be surprisingly zippy and, more importantly, everybody in the cast is on absolutely top form. Young Yara Shahidi is effortlessly natural as the daughter and Martin Sheen is convincing as the world's most important man.

The picture belongs, however, to the perennially amusing star. Once again, we are reminded that, in contrast to so many younger comics who arrived in his slipstream, Eddie Murphy is capable of restraint and subtlety. Nobody can beat him for comic timing and he is unselfish enough to permit less famous people to steal the odd scene.

Sadly, it is the sort of film that doesn’t have a natural audience. Adults, noting the involvement of Nickelodeon Pictures, may dismiss it as kids’ stuff. Younger folk may be bored by the financial subplots. Ignore your prejudices and give it a go.