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Film

Indie Flicks: Weaver's skill lifts 'Heroes'

By PHILIP BOOTH
Published March 24, 2005

	[Photo: Sony Classics]

Imaginary Heroes (R) (112 min.) - Sigourney Weaver, once the earth-mother slayer of nasty space aliens, isn't getting older, she's getting better. Fifty-five is the new 40, right? In such recent films as Heartbreakers and Tadpole, she has come off as the smartest, strongest, funniest and sexiest woman onscreen, an appealing presence even in subpar movies.

That's true for Imaginary Heroes, a somewhat derivative drama written and directed by screenwriter Dan Harris, only 22 when his script for this film led to work writing the scripts for X2 and the coming remake of Logan's Run. Weaver, in a striking, nuanced performance likely to attract awards attention (if anyone remembers by the end of the year), easily holds the center of an indie-minded effort that often threatens to be pulled apart by any of its multiple story strands. Whenever the narrative begins to lose momentum, Harris brings Weaver's character back into view. Good decision.

Weaver plays Sandy Travis, a strong-willed woman coping with a family tragedy. The tragic loss underscores the vast chasm between Sandy and her perfectionist husband, Ben (Jeff Daniels, doing his best with a fuzzily written role), and the fragile identity of their son, Tim (Emile Hirsch, who resembles a cross between Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Pitt). Tim, a high school senior who hates his father and considers his mom a close pal, has his own set of emotional complications, including his relationships with a loving girlfriend (Suzanne Santo) and a troublemaking best friend (Ryan Donowho). The plot, including the gradual unveiling of dark family secrets, borrows too blatantly from Ordinary People, and Weaver previously visited the suburban malaise terrain in the far superior The Ice Storm. A final complaint: How the heck did Kiki and Herb, the notorious gender-bending New York cabaret act, wind up at a Christmas party held by someone in this upper middle class family's small circle of friends? B

- PHILIP BOOTH, Times correspondent

[Last modified March 23, 2005, 10:29:06]