Neal Jimenez(1960-2022)

This screenwriter and director won acclaim for his first two produced screenplays,Where the River Runs Black (1986)andRiver's Edge (1986).The latter, arguably, was the first grimly honest portrait of what would soon come to be called "Generation X." Unlike, say,Reality Bites (1994),the adolescent protagonists who populated River's Edge were not cuddly in their surliness. Opening with an obese dead-eyed youth seated next to his freshly murdered girlfriend, the film presented a chilling collection of sullen and hopeless characters including Dennis Hopper's crazed ex-hippie burnout and Crispin Glover's manic speed freak.

Jimenez co-scripted (withMarshall BrickmanandLindy Laub)For the Boys (1991),a slight but overlong musical drama with a skimpy historical overview. This diverting, if forgettable,Bette Midlervehicle followed brassy entertainer Dixie Leonard as she entertained the troops from WWII to Vietnam to today. Jimenez made his directorial debut (co-helming withMichael Steinberg) withThe Waterdance (1992),the story of a quadriplegic writer played byEric Stoltz.Set in a physical rehab center, the film dealt movingly and unflinchingly with differences in class and temperament between the patients, as well as between Stoltz and his able-bodied girlfriend. Scripted by Jimenez, The Waterdance was based on his personal experiences after a 1984 accident paralyzed him.

Jimenez was also one of five writers credited withSleep with Me (1994),a slight comedy about a man (Eric Stoltz) who confesses his love for the wife (Meg Tilly) of a friend (Craig Sheffer). He also worked on the adaptation of Dean R. Koontz' novelHideaway (1995),a muddled suspense thriller about a man (Jeff Goldblum) whose near-death experience links him with a serial killer which in turn threatens his family.