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Movies / On DVD / Imaginary Heroes
Imaginary Heroes

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Imaginary Heroes (2004)

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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

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Reviews for Imaginary Heroes

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
12/06/05
Independent
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N/R

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Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
07/05/05
BBC
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
07/05/05
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
07/05/05
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

It’s unusual and faintly disturbing to see Jeff Daniels play such an unlikeable character.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
07/05/05
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Especially forceful performances make it well worth watching, even if it becomes a bit too much at times.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
06/04/05
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

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.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
07/02/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

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Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
08/16/07
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out New York
N/R

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Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
05/12/06
Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker
New York Magazine

Dan Harris e suas criações habitam um universo repleto de incidentes absolutamente artificiais e de clichês risíveis.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
11/21/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
N/R

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Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
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N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
07/05/05
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

A "personal" sort of story that might just hit you like a ton of bricks. Me? Not so much.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
06/03/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

Sigourney Weaver stands out as the heart of Imaginary Heroes, a depiction of a troubled suburban family.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
05/27/05
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Not a great movie, by any means, but it is an always-interesting one – even when it veers off the rails.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
05/18/05
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Sigourney Weaver is magnificent in Imaginary Heroes ...

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
05/13/05
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Harris cannot justify this family of misfits contrived for the screen.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
04/14/05
Michele Kenner
Michele Kenner
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
 
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