The opening of Imaginary Heroes displays Matt Travis (Kip Pardue) preparing for the start in a swim event while the voice of his little brother Tim (Emile Hirsch) says, "Matt Travis was a great simmer."  The camera continues to display Matt competing with the voiceover of Tim informing the audience that his brother's greatness in swimming was unmatched to any skill.  Everywhere where Matt went to compete from the age of 10 to 20 his dad, Ben (Jeff Daniels), kept pushing him to do better and it proved to be successful, as he become a local legend.  Yet, Matt hated the attention he received, but he hated swimming more than anything on earth.  Consequently, Matt committed suicide and Tim is the one who finds his dead brother.

The outwardly perfect family had a nice house and all the commodities for a life without problems.  Understandably, the death of Matt places the family in deep grief, but the absence of Matt also brings out the family issues into the open.  The story begins with Matt's suicide, but the father refuses to accept the son's death and demands that everyone at home continue to live as if Matt was still alive.  Sandy (Sigourney Weaver), Tim's mother, is even told to continue to cook and serve food for Matt.  Tim withdraws from the family life when his father only seems to be capable of insulting him in various ways while all his friends display sympathy for him regarding his dead brother.  All of the turmoil after Matt's death upsets Tim, and he seeks various ways of escaping such as drugs and comfort from his girlfriend, as his parents are not available for him.

Imaginary Heroes follows the Travis family for a whole year, as the family's dysfunctional development intensifies over this time.   The parental neglect of Tim is obvious.  He does not want to entrust his girlfriend who loves him, as he does not reciprocate her feelings.  His sister Penny (Michelle Williams) tries to be there for him, but she is in college and only returns on holidays.  The only person that seems to be there for Tim is his neighbor and best friend Kyle (Ryan Donowho), and his answer to loneliness and abandonment is getting high.  There is a hilarious scene where he is working while being high on ecstasy.  Drugs are a prevalent part of the film, as the characters either self-medicate with various recreational drugs, or receive prescriptions by doctors to help people them with their unhappiness.  Nonetheless, Kyle does not judge him, but he does not know everything either.  Thus, Tim only entrusts his diary where he often writes down how he feels, which will provide an interesting conclusion to the film.

What makes Imaginary Heroes so good, is the approach to the problem.  Dan Harris, who still has not turned 30 both wrote and directed the film, which displays a great deal of understanding of this issue, as he unveils all angles of the problems within the family.  It is apparent that open and honest communication could only solve their problems, where all involved have an equal right in say.  Maybe it is Harris' youthful perspective that makes the film feel authentic, and not overly analytical, which only helps the story move along into a terrific cinematic experience.  One cannot forget to mention the excellent cast with two brilliant performances by both Emile Hirsch and Sigourney Weaver.  Some might have seen Sigourney Weaver in the brilliant Ice Storm (1997), which provides a similar experience, but over a shorter time frame.  After having seen Imaginary Heroes, one cannot help to become very curious about Harris' four future projects including Superman Returns.  I will bet on that he will have a several interesting projects that will continue to keep the audience both pondering and entertained. 

DIRECTED BY

COUNTRY

USA / Germany / Belgium

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