Danielle Solzman
With a career-best performance by Wendi McLendon-Covey, Debra Eisenstadt’s Imaginary Order is a classic indie in every sense of the word.
Cathy’s (Wendi McLendon-Covey) home life is not what it used to be once upon a time. Her relationship with her daughter, Tara (Kate Alberts), is falling apart. This is in spite of quitting her job so as to become a full-time mother to Tara. All the while, Cathy’s husband, Matthew (Steve Little), may very well be cheating on her. She does not know this for sure but suspects it early on.
Meanwhile, Cathy’s sister, Gail (Catherine Curtin), is going on a meditation retreat for six weeks. She requires Cathy’s services in order to take care of her cat. This is easier said than done. All it takes is an open door for the cat to run away. While cat-sitting, Cathy ends up spying on the next door neighbor, Gemma Jean (Christine Woods). A friendship soon sparks between them and Christine invites Cathy to meet her family. This includes son Xander (Max Burkholder) and husband Paul (Graham Sibley). The polite person that she is, Cathy cozies up this family. The reality is that she should have run far away or at least limited her time to Gemma Jean only.
Before Cathy knows it, Xander soon crushes on her. Cathy is having none of it so what does Xander do but plant the seeds for World War 3. By which, I mean he’ll do whatever it takes to mess with her life. If it means getting together with Tara to make Cathy angry, so be it!
There’s barely even a trace of Beverly Goldberg in Wendi McLendon-Covey’s performance as Cathy. Between the ABC sitcom and the several film roles I’ve seen, this may be the most dramatic performance by far. She might still be playing a family matriarch but not in the same over protective way that we’re used to seeing. Even though McLendon-Covey was not originally set to play Cathy, I honestly cannot imagine anyone else in the role.
What writer-director Debra Eisenstadt has done here is given us quite the unique coming-of-age story. It’s a story that’s being told on two different fronts: Cathy and Tara. Cathy comes to the realization that her family no longer needs her in the same way. It just takes Gemma Jean’s family for her to realize it. For Tara, she’s no longer the sweet innocent girl that her mother thinks about. All in all, Eisenstadt packs a lot of themes into Imaginary Order.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Debra Eisenstadt
CAST: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Christine Woods, Max Burkholder, Kate Alberts, Steve Little, Graham Sibley, Catherine Curtin
