Themes: Fathers and Daughters, Down on Their Luck, Single Parents
Main Cast: Harvey Keitel, Fairuza Balk, Kelly Lynch, Vincent D'Onofrio, Diane Baker
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Usually cast in showy or unsympathetic supporting roles, Harvey Keitel here gets the rare chance to play a leading role as a "nice guy" -- albeit a nice guy with some serious problems -- in this family drama. Ray Weiler (Keitel) is the widowed father of two girls, high school senior Sonya (Fairuza Balk) and her younger sister Greta (Elizabeth Moss). Ray is full of get-rich-quick schemes that never quite pan out and often skirt the edges of the law. While it's obvious that he loves his daughters, he's hardly a healthy role model, and Sonya and Greta both know it -- dealing with bill collectors and angry investors who've dumped money into one of their father's schemes is just a part of life at the Weiler household. Ray has enrolled Sonya in a private school that he can't actually afford, but he's certain his latest mining venture is going to bring him some real money. Mr. Webster (Vincent D'Onofrio), one of Sonya's teachers, thinks she has a real gift as a writer and should go on to college. Sonya, however, knows that Ray would be against it -- and even if he did approve, how would they pay for it? Meanwhile, Ray seems to have found a backer for his latest mining project -- a man named Jarvis (Chris Penn) -- but one of his partners starts to get cold feet, and Jarvis looks like a man who does not take disappointment well. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Between the urban romance and melodrama of Zebrahead and the pervasive misanthropy of Hurlyburly, director Anthony Drazan filmed this nostalgic, melancholy coming-of-age story about an aspiring writer and her deadbeat father. Starring Fairuza Balk in a role not too dissimilar from her character in Gas Food Lodging, Imaginary Crimes plays like an amalgam of Author, Author, This Boy's Life, and Paper Moon. Harvey Keitel hits the right note of dogged, starry-eyed optimism in his portrayal of Ray Weiler, a struggling father and would-be inventor who doesn't quite realize that he's a con man. Meanwhile, in a series of flashbacks cleverly staged as the protagonist's sepia-tinged short stories, Kelly Lynch nails the resignation of Ray's disappointed, dying wife. The supporting class is equally fine, especially future Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Amber Benson as Sonya's mischievous, empathetic best friend. Vincent D'Onofrio is stuck with an underwritten role as the girls' stern but saintly creative writing teacher, but he does what he can with it. Meanwhile, young Elisabeth Moss keeps her cuteness in check as Greta, Sonya's grave younger sister. Some fans of Sheila Ballantyne's 1982 source novel complained that Kristine Johnson and Davia Nelson's screenplay glossed over some of the author's subtle, non-judgemental tone. Despite any liberties the adaptation may take with the book, however, this is a thoughtful, subtle film with plenty of layers. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Pat Tagliaferro - Art Director, Deborah Aquila - Casting, Jane Shannon - Casting, Stan Wlodkowski - Co-producer, Davia Nelson - Co-producer, Kristine Johnson - Co-producer, Susan Lyall - Costume Designer, Linda Fox - First Assistant Director, Anthony Drazan - Director, Elizabeth Kling - Editor, Gary Barber - Executive Producer, Robert W. Cort - Executive Producer, Ted Field - Executive Producer, Stephen Endelman - Composer (Music Score), Joseph T. Garrity - Production Designer, John J. Campbell - Cinematographer, Scott Kroopf - Producer, James G. Robinson - Producer, Mark Ulano - Sound/Sound Designer, Davia Nelson - Screenwriter, Kristine Johnson - Screenwriter, Sheila Ballantyne - Book Author
Imaginary Crimes is a 1994 film starring Harvey Keitel and Fairuza Balk, telling the story of Ray Weiler (Keitel), a widowed hustler trying to raise two daughters in 1962Portland, Oregon.
His eldest daughter Sonya (Balk) is a gifted student and writer who attempts to start a life for herself despite her father's inability to change his self-destructive behaviour. Her journal entries form the basis of retrospective scenes documenting the family's story.
