it occur to me while watch imaginary hero that any screenwriter attempt to make a drama about family relationship should seriously consider kill off a kid or two in the opening reel a a way of get his character to open up and reveal themselves . there must be something to this storyline and for it seem a if every other family drama that come down the pike use this device in one form or another ( paradise and moonlight mile be just two of the more recent example that spring immediately to mind and although one could reach back to a golden oldie like who afraid of virginia woolf . to make the point as well ) . it not that the death of a child be an illegitimate subject for serious film to explore . far from it . it just that and like any topic and it can be so overused that it become just another movie cliché and a convenient bit of narrative shorthand to get the ball rolling and to give the character something to grapple with for the remainder of the time we get to spend with them . the late such work be imaginary hero and a film that borrow heavily from what be one of the early and and perhaps and best know example of the family cop with the death of a child genre and the academy award win ordinary people . like the character in that early film and the travises seem and on the surface and to be the ideal suburban family and until and one fateful day and their old son and matt and who be the golden boy athlete and and thus and the apple of his father eye and kill himself with no explanation ( one minor difference be that the son in ordinary people die a a result of an accident and not a suicide ) . it be matt young brother and tim and who wind up find the body and and who assume the role of protagonist in the film . each of the remain family member cope with the tragedy in his or her own way . matt and who have always live in the shadow of his older brother and become more and more estrange from the father who have virtually ignore him all his life and begin to turn to drug for surcease . ben and the father and becomes swallow up in feeling of remorse and guilt and turn away from both his job and his family . his wife and sandy and be the most complex character in the film and a free spirited child of the 60 who feel oddly adrift in the role of mother and wife a she endure a basically loveless marriage in sterile suburbia . she spend most of her time after the tragedy try to reconnect with her pot smoking past . a write and direct by dan harris and imaginary hero emerge a a wildly uneven film . for every scene that feel real and authentic and there be another that come across a arbitrary and inauthentic . one sometimes have the sense that harris would like to cram every possible life situation he can think of into his screenplay and an admirable goal and perhaps and but one that make the film unnecessarily melodramatic in the process . instead of identify with the character and be catch up in their plight and we often find ourselves think and oh and come now what next . for teen suicide be just the tip of the iceberg when it come to the hot button topic cover in this film while the screenplay also touch on drug and alcohol abuse and physical abuse and sexual identity conflict and life threaten illness and even inadvertent gay incest . it be this everything but the kitchen sink mentality in the writing that rob the movie of much of the credibility it need to really make u care . that be not to say that imaginary hero be a bad or unrewarding film . much of what it have to say about familial relationship and value in the 21st century be insightful and original and pointed and profound . prime credit for it success go to the actor and emile hirsch and sigourney weaver and jeff daniel and who deliver incisive and sensitive performance in their respective role . it be they who triumph over the narrative excess to stimulate our brain and touch our heart . moreover and harris and in his direction and achieve an effectively melancholic tone throughout and but one that be frequently augment by some badly need flash of dare dark comedy . imaginary hero may appear unfocused and derivative at time and but it fine performance and subtle mood shift make it a film worth watching .