Imaginary Heroes

Ordinary people: Imaginary Heroes reveal their human selves

By Mike Prevatt

At first viewing, Imaginary Heroes is a flick with a serious identity crisis. The debut effort from director/writer Dan Harris (who was awarded screenplay duties for 2003's X2 based on his script for Heroes) tries to be too many things at once. Additionally, it doesn't even balance out its likely influences--1980's Ordinary People and 1999's American Beauty--much less differentiate from them.

But once it settles, Heroes is an emotionally potent work, both brutally honest and unconventionally charming. Despite clichés and an overabundance of plot surprises--some of them predictable--Harris' story of a family dealing with grief and dysfunction strikes a chord, mostly because of the acting talents offered by mother figure Sandy (Sigourney Weaver) and her disillusioned son Tim (Emile Hirsch).

It doesn't take long for tragedy to strike Ben (Jeff Daniels) and Sandy's family, as the suicide of "favorite" son Matt (Kip Pardue) sets off the chain reaction of not-entirely-unexpected events. The self-absorbed Sandy takes up smoking pot; a shell-shocked Ben shuns the household and retreats from reality; and Tim experiments with Ecstasy and his best bud next door. Additionally, revelations both old and new surface, and the ensuing catharsis will make or break their various bonds.

Weaver and Hirsch's mother-son duo steal the show, thanks to their sardonic and instinctive performances. Their frank dialogue, ranging from how intolerable people are to masturbation, would not be credible if they weren't delivered so convincingly. Daniels, however, strains in his role despite the lack of dynamic required of him, to the point where any deviation from emotional vacancy is nearly creepy. To his credit, he remains believable in his detachment, helping establish the trifecta of humanity that turns Imaginary Heroes into ordinary people.