Imaginary Crimes

This is a great movie. I'm amazed that it got made and done so well. First kudos go to Sheila Ballantyne who wrote the novel. A story like this cannot be made up in committee or by hiring the hottest screen writer in town. It has to be lived. There's no question that Ballantyne lived it. And then it has to be understood in the light of love before it can be shared with us. And she did that.

Second kudos go to Tony Drazan who directed and interpreted. It can be seen that he loved the story and he wanted it to be beautiful, and he made it so.

He picked the dearest, sweetest girls to play the parts of Sonya and Greta at various ages. And he had to have the right man for their father, a flawed man, like all of us, a man doing the best he can, a man with values that don't really work, a man who lost his young wife to cancer and was left to raise his two daughters alone, a man like Arthur Miller's Willie Loman who had big dreams never realized, a man neither hero not villain; in short a man who had to be played with delicacy and without maudlin sentiment. Harvey Keitel fit the part, that of a schemer and a dreamer and a self-deluded hustling con man, and did a fantastic, flawless job.

Fairuza Balk, who played Sonya was wonderful, and Elizabeth Moss as Greta was adorable beyond expression, and so beautifully directed. The girl who played the young Sonya was not only excellent, but looked enough like Fairuza Balk to be her younger sister: perfect casting. And Kelly Lynch who had a limited role as the mother was exquisite.

The interaction between the father and the daughters was painfully veracious, filled with real- life tension and heart-breaking disappointments, but done without abuse and without any of the dysfunctional family sicknesses so often expressed these days. We see his failure as a father on one level, and yet in the end we see through the eyes and the voice of Sonya a greater truth: in spite of his weaknesses he actually succeeded as a father. In fact we see that whether he knew it or not, the one thing that he did right in his life, although he wavered plenty, was bringing up his girls against the great odds of his defective character. And the love shown him by his daughters, so beautifully projected by both Balk and Moss, was wonderful to experience since it is so seldom seen these days when the usual style is to trash men and their part in the family. And the nonexploitive, nurturing and loving role of Sonya's English teacher, played with a fine delicacy by Vincent D'Onfrio, was a much-needed change from the usual cinematic use of teachers as sexual lechers. In this movie we can see that men are people too. (Hello!)

I should mention that the screenplay by Kristine Johnson and Davia Nelson was carefully crafted to showcase the story dramatically, and to warn you that this is a tear jerker. It starts a little slow, and seems a touch old fashioned, but stay with it: it's a beautiful movie, one the best I've ever seen.

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*One fairly minor spoiler ahead*

There's a very good story in here. I wouldn't doubt that the book is very good. However the screenplay, perhaps as well as the direction here really doesn't do the full story justice. Too much of the story is told from such an overly cynical and somewhat ignorant perspective of the older daughter by narration. Essentially this aspect alone robs the film of its overall effectiveness of being an entirely convincing film. Instead, much of the story the film tries to deliver through the narration, does not reasonably meet the actual story presented. So overall I have to say that while the film is decent, and does have a good story within it, this telling of it overall is not entirely effective enough. It's impossible to fully buy into, unless you care not to think about it much at all I suppose. I also have an issue with the part where child services takes the younger daughter away. If the oldest is 18, which she was, there should never be such a reason to do this. Unless there was some known reason why she could not care for the younger sister, which no reason of this is ever shown or even talked about at all in the film.

It really is too bad, because mostly I really enjoyed the story, and what the director and cast did here. Too bad the narration is not better written here to fit in better with the full story. It could've worked really well, and this would've been a really good little film, mainly if there were only less cynicism and narrowness of perspective in the narration.

5/10.

Follows the story of widowed father Ray Weiler (Harvey Kietel) trying to make it as a con artist in the 1950's. The story is told from the point of view of his daughter Sonya (Fairuza Balk) as she tries to struggle through her unenviable life while protecting her younger sister Greta (Elizabeth Moss) from their harsh environment. There's also the mandatory appearance by Vincent D'Onofrio, playing Sonya's English teacher who's actually more of a father to her than Ray ever was.

Balk and Kietel are great in this. Kietel did the slimy, overbearing father role better than I thought he would. Balk was also very good as his disillusioned daughter; they had good dad-kid chemistry, in a disfunctional sort of way. I thought the script and story were great, too. It was very real, like it could have been based on someone's memoirs. Balk's monologue right before the credits role is the perfect ending for this sort of story. A film worth renting.

In my opinion 'Imaginary Crimes' along with 'Fight Club' are the best films of the 90's. 'Imaginary Crimes' may not have the most original story around but it's done to perfection. It tells it's sad story in a way that's never overly depressing and the performances are all top notch, with the standouts being Fairuza Balk and Harvey Keitel who are both totally amazing. Specials mention most go to Anthony Drazan for his superb direction especially in the scene where Balk refuses to go with Keitel to Reno. Anyone who watches this film without getting a tear in the eye must be made of stone. 10/10

Imaginary Crimes features one of the world's best "unknown" actresses Fairuza Balk (Personal Velocity, Almost Famous, The Craft, American History X) and the immensely talented Harvey Keitel.

Keitel plays a recently widowed hustler/con man who is left trying to raise his two daughters, teenager Balk and her 12 year old sister. He doesn't have a clue about raising kids. Worse, he has to hide his shady business dealings from them.

Balk is a natural born writer, who is befriended by her English teacher (Vincent D'Onofrio). He provides the supportive father figure that Keitel cannot.

Imaginary Crimes is a coming of age story. It's a small, quiet film, but very effective. The acting is superb and Balk more than holds her own with the great Keitel. Highly recommended for the outstanding performances of Balk, Keitel and D'Onofrio. Balk is one of my favorite actresses.