It’s unusual and faintly disturbing to see Jeff Daniels play such an unlikeable character.
Imaginary Heroes (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:101
Fresh:35
Rotten:66
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Imaginary Heroes is a muddled, melodramatic and unconvincing drama.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This realistic family film starring Sigourney Weaver and Emile Hirsch as a loving mother and son asks some deep questions about mortality, the risks of depression, and staying together verses... This realistic family film starring Sigourney Weaver and Emile Hirsch as a loving mother and son asks some deep questions about mortality, the risks of depression, and staying together verses splitting up. Living in a beautiful house in a manicured suburban neighborhood, the Travis family seems flawless at first glance. That is, until the handsome eldest son (Kip Pardue), a star swimmer, commits suicide, leaving the family in pieces. The father (Jeff Daniels), rejects the other members of the family, becoming distant and aloof. The college-student daughter (Michelle Williams), rarely visits home any more. The mother (Weaver), resorts to petty quibbles with her next-door neighbor (Deirdre O'Connell), and develops a minor--but highly amusing--marijuana habit. And the youngest son, Tim (Hirsch)--who is the protagonist and the real victim in the story--searches for meaning, identity, and solace from the chaos that surrounds him. Tim's best friend Kyle (Ryan Donowho) experiments with drugs and sex, providing for some understated and poignant coming-of-age situations. But for the most part, it is the chemistry between expert actors Weaver and Hirsch that carries the film, making IMAGINARY HEROES a lovely, sensitive meditation on the mid-life family crisis. [More]
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch, Jeff Daniels, Deirdre O'Connell
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch, Jeff Daniels, Deirdre O'Connell, Kip Pardue, Ryan Donowho, Michelle Williams, Suzanne Santo
Director: Daniel Harris
Director: Daniel Harris
Screenwriter: Daniel Harris
Producer: Illana Diamant, Gina Resnick, Art Linson, Denise Shaw
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Reviews for Imaginary Heroes
Especially forceful performances make it well worth watching, even if it becomes a bit too much at times.
Sigourney Weaver gives a terrific performance in this impressive film.
Weaver dominates the proceedings, bringing such intelligence, energy, and complexity to the role that it should be a crime she hasn’t received but a whisper of Oscar buzz.
This is a nice debut for director Harris, and for fans of dysfunctional family stories, a great addition to an under-appreciated genre.
The gift of Imaginary Heroes is getting to know these anything- but-ordinary people.
Sigourney Weaver is impeccable as a distraught mother who resorts to pot to barricade her emotions in writer/director Dan Harris' diamond-sharp treatise on American family dysfunction that makes "The Ice Storm" look like a walk in the park.
With an eager urgency full of risk, [director] Harris piles on emotional layers and keeps winking back-stories at us.
Audiences may feel compelled towards labeling Imaginary Heroes nothing more than a movie-of-the-week. But, most will have to admit, it’s a pretty good one.
Has a patchwork quality that can be infuriating, but it's never bland or uninteresting, and works more often than not...clearly the work of a filmmaker of promise.
A hard-hitting drama about the sharp edges of grief and the need for families to nurture openness and love in the midst of tragedies that test their mettle.
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