ABC

Having seen the trailers, I was a bit leery of this film as it appeared silly, shallow and unbelievable.  As is often the case, the advertisements were misleading and I was pleasantly surprised by this charming, poignant family comedy which carries a story with a noteworthy moral.

We first encounter Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy) as his life is firmly engaged in a downward spiral.  He is losing clients at work, his marriage has been legally dissolved, and he claims to be incapable of adequately fathering his young daughter, who is suffering emotionally from the after-effects of divorce and a disconnection from her dad.  Evan maintains a dry sense of humor and comes across as a sympathetic character as we witness his flustered, distracted, unhappy and directionless behavior at work and with his friends and family.

After an especially bad week at the office, Evan attempts to skip visitation time with his daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi) but his ex wife forces him to take Olivia to his home, explaining to him the importance of having a relationship with their daughter.  From the beginning of her visitation time in Evan's home, it is obvious to heartbroken Olivia that she is viewed by her father as a chore and a nuisance.  As she takes solace in her imaginary world with her blankie and a cast of invisible characters, she feebly attempts to join in her father's life as a stock broker, offering him advice on which stocks to buy and sell.  Through a comical series of events, Evan discovers that, against all odds, Olivia's business advice is spot-on and with her help he begins an amazing come-back with his firm.  In order to garner more advice from Olivia, he shifts most of his attention toward her, entering her imaginary world and joining in her childish play.

While Olivia blossoms in light of all the attention her father is now lavishing upon her, it is obvious that Evan still has a lesson to learn about being a good parent as he is ultimately motivated by selfishness as he uses Olivia to get ahead in his career.  Evan and Olivia's relationship does not truly reach a healthy place until he sacrifices his own desires and puts Olivia's needs first in a very touching scene at the end of the movie.  This proves false Evan's earlier claim that he was not capable of being a father, and makes clear the fact that one can be a good parent without the complications of misleading psychological classes or books or lectures.  All Evan had to do was put Olivia's needs ahead of his own in a simple, real, and tangible way, and a healthy relationship was achieved.

The message I most appreciated in this film was that children have a deep need for their parents to demonstrate love through time and attention and when they are being neglected in that way they will exhibit symptoms of starvation, such as misbehavior or excessive clinging to security items and imaginary friends.  When Olivia's needs were not being met by her father, rather than sending her to a therapist or giving her mind-altering drugs, the adults around her encouraged her father to step up and fulfill his role.

Although the subject matter of the film may sound weighty; dealing with emotional damage from divorce and fractured parent-child relationships, the story is presented with a light-hearted, comical and sweet tone which makes it palatable even for small children and avoids any overall depressed feeling.  The interaction between Eddie Murphy and the young Yara Shahidi is highly entertaining and charming.  Miss Shahidi's on-screen performance is natural and effortless, and her chemistry with Murphy is a rare treat.

One enjoyable aspect of the film is it takes place in Denver, Colorado, and all of the outdoor scenes are in locales familiar to those living in this area.

Questionable content:  There is a thread of fantasy woven into the film as the audience is left to wonder where Olivia's brilliant stock-broking advice is really coming from.  While the audience is left to our own imagination to fill in that blank, Evan's workplace nemesis comes to believe that Olivia's blankie is possessed with "spirits" and this man purchases a Native American "spirit wrap" for his own son and instructs him to perform a ritualistic dance around a fire in their backyard while attempting to tap into "spirit guides" to give him stock-broking advice.  This entire scene is portrayed as ridiculous and obviously not meant to be instructive, but could serve as a springboard to fruitful family discussion about false religions and what the Bible refers to as "familiar spirits.."

There is some name-calling in the film such as "big dumb show-off," "stupida," "cry baby," etc.  These names are not directed at people, but at companies or imaginary people.  There is some use of childish scatological terms, and there is a total of 5 religious exclamations, including a couple of instances of using the Lord's name in vain.

There is no sexual content, and no real violence.