Product Code Database
Imaginary Crimes is a 1994 American historical drama drama film directed by Anthony Drazan, and starring Harvey Keitel, Fairuza Balk, Kelly Lynch, Vincent D'Onofrio, Seymour Cassel, and Elisabeth Moss. An adaptation of Sheila Ballantyne's 1982 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, it follows a widowed Confidence trick attempting to raise his two daughters in 1962 Portland, Oregon.
With the help of her father's persuasiveness, Sonya is able to enroll for her senior year at the elite Edgemont Academy, a preparatory school her mother also attended. She soon befriends Margaret, one of her classmates, and is taken under the wing of Mr. Webster, an English teacher who praises Sonya's writing abilities. One day, after being pestered by their landlord of their father's unpaid rent, Ray returns home with a large sum of money that he has acquired through a money laundering scheme involving a local mining company; Ray became involved through his fellow con artists, Eddie and Jarvis. Ray pays off his debts, and takes his daughters out for ice cream to celebrate.
Mr. Webster persuades Sonya to take college exams, despite the fact that Sonya cannot realistically afford to attend university. After applying to several colleges, Sonya is accepted by the University of California, Berkeley. Several days later, Jarvis arrives at the family's house with a gun, accusing Ray of having stolen money from him. Shortly after, Bud, the father of one of Sonya's classmates, presses charges against Ray for conning him out of money under the guise of a business investment. Ray is subsequently charged with grand larceny and fraud. After Mr. Webster puts up money for Ray's bail, Ray devises a plan to flee Portland and start a new life in Reno, Nevada, which infuriates Sonya. This sparks an argument which ends in Sonya telling her father she would have been better off without him, after which she and Greta exit the car, and Ray continues on to Reno.
The following morning, police arrive at the Weiler residence with a warrant for Ray. Greta is subsequently taken by child services, as Sonya, though now eighteen, does not have legal guardianship of her. Meanwhile, Ray arrives in Reno with Eddie, where he begins planning new schemes, but is remorseful of leaving his daughters behind. He drives back to Portland from Reno in the middle of the night, and returns to find his house empty. In the morning, Ray visits the home of the judge overseeing his case, and pleads that he protect Sonya and Greta from having to testify.
A day later, Sonya attends her high school graduation from Edgemont Academy. After the ceremony, she apologizes to Mr. Webster for her father's actions, and tells him she plans on working a summer job to repay him. Moments later, Ray and Greta arrive at the graduation, escorted in a police car. Ray gifts Sonya an expensive writing pen as a graduation gift. In a voiceover narration, Sonya recounts the events of the years after, in which she raised Greta while her father served his prison sentence; after his release, he continued to be obsessed with business opportunities, particularly ones involving metals, ore, and space technology of the time. Some years later, Ray went into the mountains on an excursion, and froze to death.
The San Francisco Examiners Scott Rosenberg gave the film a middling review, noting that, though Keitel's performance is strong, the film "makes no effort to explore Ray's inner life... Imaginary Crimes shows us what a [David Mamet]]-style con artist would look like through the eyes of a teenage daughter. It's a surprisingly gentle picture."
|
|
