Former Baton Rougean directs 'Imagine That'

• By JOHN WIRT
• Movie critic
• Published: Jun 12, 2009

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When Karey Kirkpatrick was a Baton Rouge High School student watching rising star Eddie Murphy in Saturday Night Live skits, he never imagined that one day he’d direct Murphy in a major motion picture.

But Kirkpatrick does indeed direct Murphy in Imagine That, a family comedy from Paramount Pictures that opens today.

Having previously co-directed the 2006 computer-animated hit, Over The Hedge, Imagine That is Kirkpatrick’s debut as a live-action director. His other credits include screenplays for Charlotte’s Web, The Spiderwick Chronicles and the computer-animated James and the Giant Peach and Chicken Run.

Imagine That co-writer and producer Ed Solomon suggested Kirkpatrick for the film’s director’s chair. To get the gig, Kirkpatrick had to gain the approval of the film’s already attached star.

“I had a few really good interviews and kept making my way through the next round,” Kirkpatrick said from Los Angeles. “Before I knew it, it was down to me and one other director. They put both of us in front of Eddie Murphy. Much to my surprise, he picked me.”

Early in the process of being named director, Kirkpatrick found the prospect of working with a star of Murphy’s magnitude intimidating.

“I always thought that my first live-action experience would be something small, something that I wrote and not with a major movie star who might gobble me up.”

A parent himself, Kirkpatrick warmed up to Imagine That upon reading the script, a story about a workaholic dad who realizes he’s ignoring his 7-year-old daughter.

“I really connected with it,” he said. “So I talked to my agent, who said, ‘This movie has heft. It’s nice that that they’re considering you for something like this.’ ”

Once Kirkpatrick got the job, working with Murphy was nothing like he imagined.

“We saw eye-to-eye about where the story was going,” he said. “And I wasn’t told to sit over on the side. It was a gift to be given someone who’s that talented, who’s that big a star. I don’t want to sell myself out, but Eddie doesn’t need a lot of direction. He makes me look good.”

Some of the director’s favorite Imagine That scenes were improvised between Murphy and Yara Shahidi, the actress playing his daughter.

“Eddie doesn’t do as much improvisation as you would think, but he has a way of taking each line and making it his own,” Kirkpatrick said. “For a couple of scenes, I told Eddie and Yara to put the script away and go play restaurant, or I told Eddie to teach her how to sing a song. Those are almost pure improv.”