Movie Review Imagine That

Imagine That (2009) 

Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick

Written by Ed Solomon, Chris Matheson 

Starring Eddie Murphy, Yara Shahidi, Thomas Haden Church, Ronny Cox, Martin Sheen

Release Date August 14th, 2009 

Published August 15th, 2009 

The problem with Eddie Murphy as the star of family movies is that he never seems sincere. Some of it is our fault as an audience. We pigeonholed Eddie as a foul mouthed comedy superstar. The move to becoming the star of family comedies came after we were tired of his act. There were also some unfortunate offscreen issues that dimmed Eddie's star. With few offers on the table Eddie jumped the family movie bandwagon and has never looked back. It is in that rather desperate move into the family genre where his insincerity lies and the latest evidence is called Imagine That.

Evan Danielson (Murphy) is a top stock speculator. He is in line to take over the Denver branch of a major investment firm and he owes it all to a focus on work at all costs. Evan lost his family due to his single minded focus on work and now only sees his daughter Olivia (Yara Shahidi) sparingly. There is however, an impediment to Evan's ascension to the top at work. His name is Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church, a long way from his Sideways Oscar nomination), a fellow speculator who dazzles clients with his alleged Indian heritage. He undermines Evan at every turn with his eyes on the big promotion.

Things get even more difficult for Evan when his ex-wife (Nicole Ari Parker) drops their daughter on him for a week. He had agreed to take Olivia before the promotion came up, now she is holding him to it. For her part, Olivia is a troubled, quiet child with few friends and a possibly unhealthy attachment to her security blanket.

Instead of interacting with other kids at school Olivia places her blanket over her head and has long conversations with several imaginary friends. The 'friends' are princesses who not only talk to Olivia but have advice for her dad. They can predict stocks and soon they are giving Evan stunningly accurate advice.

Daddy and daughter bond over playing with the princesses, only she can see them, but convention tells us as moviegoers that the bond cannot last and eventually the need for stock advice from the princesses will come between them. Worse yet, like clockwork, the finale of Imagine That comes down to a chase to the school where...

Oh, do I even have to tell you.

You've seen Imagine That in different forms a thousand different times. Murphy and Director Karey Kirkpatrick adhere to absolutely every family movie cliche creating a rote, predictable and desperately unfunny slog through the typical and expected.

Well, there is one element of Imagine That I did not predict: The sad, despicable and ludicrous performance of the once promising Thomas Haden Church. Had he played this role before earning an Oscar nomination for Sideways and going on to star in Spiderman 3, it would make sense. Playing second fiddle to Eddie Murphy in a third rate family movie cannot be where Thomas Haden Church imagined his career.

Worse yet is the actual performance in which Church plays a white guy pretending to be a full blooded American Indian and using that heritage to become a successful stock analyst. Why Church or anyone involved in Imagine That thought this character was a good idea is, pardon the pun, unimaginable.

The stupidity of Church's character only makes worse the experience of the overall dreadful enterprise that is Imagine That.

Movie Review Over the Hedge

Over the Hedge (2006) 

Directed by Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick 

Written by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, Karey Kirkpatrick 

Starring Steve Carell, Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Wanda Sykes, Garry Shandling 

Release Date May 19th, 2006 

Published May 18th, 2006 

The daily newspaper comic Over The Hedge is a smart, self aware, culturally savvy cartoon starring woodland creatures and their incisive observations of humans in suburbia. Though the 3 panel brains of Over The Hedge, Michael Fry and T. Lewis may not be ideal for the too often soft headed children's animation market, Over The Hedge does have the built in cuteness factor of talking animals that all children love. Leave your brains, and the brains of the comics themselves, at the door - Over The Hedge is the latest cute but forgettable CG tune from DreamWorks animation.

Bruce Willis stars as the voice of R.J, a mischievous raccoon with a bit of a self-destructive side. While foraging for some food R.J gets the brilliant idea to rob a hibernating bear. In the process of stealing the bear's entire store of mostly human snacks, R.J manages to wake the not surprisingly cranky bear and destroy the whole supply of food.

The bear, voiced with gruff annoyance by Nick Nolte, is not supposed to come out of hibernation for another week so being tired he cuts a deal with R.J, restore the food supply in one week or becomes part of the food supply. R.J is lucky to make it out with his hide but where will he get all of these mostly human snacks, chips, pop, candy and such. Luck smiles on R.J when he discovers a brand new human enclave that has sprung up over the winter, a brand new suburban subdivision has cut the forest in half.

This comes as a surprise not just to R.J but also to the hibernating creatures who have made this forest their home for years. Having spent months in hibernation, Vern the turtle (Gary Shandling), Hammy the squirrel (Steve Carell) and Stella the skunk (Wanda Sykes) - amongst a large star filled ensemble- find their forest cut in half and the potential food supply nearly gone.

Enter R.J who sees this clan of woodland pals as his chance to get some help in replenishing the bear's stock. All he has to do is lead the gang into suburbia where they can help him raid homes and garbage cans for the needed supplies and once he has what he needs simply steal it all away to the bear. What R.J could not count on with this group is finding the family he never had and never knew he wanted.

I gagged a little as I wrote that last line. That type of treacle is what most Hollywood studios think you must have in all family cartoons. That warm-hearted easily digested family friendly message is a prerequisite of the genre to most studios no matter how clumsily such a simplistic message is incorporated into the film.

The fun loving creatures of Over The Hedge chafe against the constrictions of this genre required plot strand. Not that the cute characters of Over The Hedge don't lend themselves to a simpleminded family friendly message. The characters are cute and cuddly like your average family cartoon character, and such the problem is really just a lack of subtlety. The film hammers home its homespun wisdom in thuddingly obvious dialogue.

Family friendly messages are certainly not a bad thing. Both Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, a pair of Pixar animated classics, deliver family friendly messages couched in terrifically funny adventure plots. There is a way to make it family friendly without pounding the message into the ground. It's just that only Pixar seems to understand the formula.

When not forced by genre convention to blast home a message, Over The Hedge has some inspired moments of humor and insight. A funny montage in which R.J introduces the gang to the various ways humans obtain and consume food is a terrifically funny and biting commentary. Another scene in which R.J shows insight beyond his animal nature is when he introduces the gang to an SUV. Vern asks how many humans can fit such a huge vehicle, R.J's snappy reply "Usually... just one".

Those good moments are surrounded by a strong adventure plot as the gang works to obtain food while avoiding an evil exterminator voiced by Thomas Haden Church and a witchy suburban resident voiced by Allison Janney. The film gets good mileage out of both these villainous characters.

Over The Hedge is a pretty good movie but in the genre of CG animation pretty good is not often good enough. The Pixar company has set the bar so high in this genre that non-Pixar films simply cannot compete. Pixar's lovely candy colored animation is one of the great artistic creations of the past century and while other company's have attempted to match it no one has come close.

As I say a lot in reference to CG animated films, Over The Hedge is good but it's not Pixar good. I am recommending the film but with reluctance. Over The Hedge is good but not great family entertainment.

Movie Review: Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web (2006) 

Directed by Gary Winick 

Written by Susannah Grant, Karey Kirkpatrick 

Starring Julia Roberts, Dakota Fanning, Robert Redford, Steve Buscemi, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates

Release Date December 16th, 2006 

Published December 15th, 2006 

Most people of my generation, Gen-X, were exposed to E.B White's classic children's fable Charlotte's Web by the cartoon adaptation that was a television staple since its creation in 1972. Interesting fact about that adaptation, E.B White hated it. He was wary of Hollywood to begin with and found the adaptation to be lightweight and far too Hollywood.

There is no telling what he would think of the latest incarnation of Charlotte's Web; White died in 1985. However, he did once hope that the film would be given a live action treatment. Under the whimsical direction of Gary Winick (13 Going On 30) with a slightly updated script by Karey Kirkpatrick (Over The Hedge) and Susannah Grant (In her Shoes), this live action Charlotte's Web has the kind of magic that I think E.B White may have appreciated, especially as a fan of talking animals.

Wilbur (voice of Dominic Scott Kay) was a runt pig on his way to slaughter. Thankfully, young Fern (Dakota Fanning) was witness to his birth and stepped in to prevent his execution. The first few months of this spring-pigs life were spent as Fern's pampered pet. However, once school started and the holiday season grew closer, Wilbur's fate seemed to be Christmas dinner.

No longer allowed to be Fern's pet, Wilbur is banished to the barn owned by Fern's uncle, Mr. Zuckerman, where a menagerie of not so friendly neighbors await. Maybe they are just being realistic and not wanting to get close to an animal so likely to be gone by the first snow, but the animals in the Zuckerman barn are a little standoffish.

That is, except for Charlotte (Julia Roberts), a spider who befriends the lonely little pig. Charlotte can relate to being an outcast. As a spider she is not exactly on good terms with her neighbors either. Some are afraid, like Ike the horse (Robert Redford), others are disgusted by her, like Samuel the sheep (John Cleese). Wilbur becomes Charlotte's first friend. Eventually the two become close enough that Charlotte breaks the bad news to him about his likely fate but also promises to find a way to save him.

When I first began seeing trailers for this new Charlotte's Web I was concerned. The trailers featured fart jokes which to me signaled desperation and created the worry that such modern touches would all involve bathroom humor. My memories of Charlotte's Web from childhood are of a classy cartoon that even made the rat Templeton acceptable, even as he rolled in garbage.

Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. The bathroom humor in Charlotte's Web is limited to just a few scenes. What is prevalent throughout this new adaptation is a classy, old school approach to storytelling. Director Gary Winick spins a wondrous tale that is the perfect mixture of sugary sap and honest, touching emotion. The film is at times so saccharine you need to call your dentist but by the end you will find that you've spent the entire film with a smile on your face and maybe even a hint of a tear in the corner of your eye as one of the main characters passes away.

Julia Roberts provides the voice of Charlotte and her soft, honey soaked tones are so soothing you can't help but fall in love with this spider. Soft and sweet, her voice is the calming element needed to leaven the mood of the other voice actors who are either hyper or extremely put on. Roberts brought a similar vocal smoothness to the animated film The Ant Bully earlier this year, another film where her voice-work stands out.

Like the animated version of this story, this Charlotte's Web has a lovely timeless quality. Even with the CGI necessary to create the talking animals, Charlotte's Web has such a classic look and such an old school approach to storytelling that it seems like it could have existed 40 years ago. Director Gary Winick perfectly captures the innocence of E.B White's fable, his characters ,and even the slightly dark undertones of the story that give it such depth and resonance.

Charlotte's Web is at times a little cloying and at times a little too sweet but most of all, Charlott'e Web is a solidly crafted piece of G-rated children's entertainment. The nostalgia factor makes it appealing to adults as well as children but parents will likely be surprised just how much they enjoy  the feel of this film even beyond their memories of the cartoon and the classic book.