Luke’s
imaginary friend certainly isn’t a six-foot-tall invisible rabbit. He is slick,
reckless, hedonistic, and sinister. He is everything Luke isn’t, except he
maybe isn’t completely imaginary. At first, he gives Luke confidence, but then
he drags the college freshman to some very dark places in Adam Egypt Mortimer’s
Daniel Isn’t Real, which opens today in New York.
Daniel
first appears in Luke’s young life at a moment when he was dealing with
considerable trauma and angst. Initially, the “imaginary” friend provides some
fun and distraction, but then he tricks the confused child into nearly
poisoning his mother, Claire. When she recovers, she forces Luke to lock Daniel
away in a dusty antique doll house. She assumes it is a bit of psychological
role-playing, but it really works. Years later, Luke deliberately releases him,
because of a vague notion Daniel could stimulate his artistic creativity. In
retrospect, that was a really bad impulse decision.
For
a while, Daniel helps Luke talk to girls in various social settings, but soon
he is pushing Luke towards meaner, more aggressive behavior. Belatedly, Luke
realizes Daniel’s influence makes him a danger to others—and himself. But wait,
there’s more, which we won’t give away.
Happily,
Mortimer does not overplay the “is-he-really-just-going-crazy” card, because a
lot of horror fans are probably getting tired of that non-twisty twist.
However, there is still some pretty cool imagery of Luke’s troubled subconscious
manifested on-screen. It is not Hitchcock’s Spellbound, but it is impressive.
Most
importantly, Daniel, played with shark-like cunning and serpent-like charm by
Patrick Schwarzenegger, is a terrific villain. He is sort of like a horndog
frat brother from Hell. In contrast, Miles Robbins is scrupulously awkward and introverted
as Luke, just as the narrative demands. Mary Stuart Masterson is both alarming
and distressing as the deeply disturbed Claire. Also, take note of Chukwudi Iwuji,
who gets in some entertaining movie head-shrinking as Braun, the college shrink
and authority on sacred Tibetan artifacts.
