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| Directed by Michael Polish; Starring Mark Polish, Michael Polish, Michele Hicks, Jon Gries, Lesley Ann Warren, William Katt, Patrick Bauchau, Garrett Morris, and Teresa Hill |
Twin Falls Idaho is one of those films that you so want to like. It is well made, has a good tale to tell, and even means well without ever getting mean spirited. Still the film never pans out with any pay-off or intrigue. To put it bluntly, the film is a bit boring.
Twin brothers Mark and Michael Polish have taken a story of the love that grows between twin brothers and the dramatic importance each one has on the other. The film does not simply look at twins, but at those that are closer than anyone else in the world, Siamese twins. The brothers wore a type of suit to make the illusion that they were joined at the hip and it looks believable, and they throw so much heart into the emotional side to those physical deformed. But that is part of the reason that I think that Twin Falls Idaho is a slight disappointment, the two try so hard at showing that these two are unable to be lonely without the ability to be alone that it is jammed down the audience’s throats many times. Sure I did not expect them to perfect emotional acting in their first try, but they should have at least expected the audience to understand the first time it was thrown out.
The film is about the help that a low-class hooker tries to bring to the two brothers. When Francis (Michael Polish) contacts Penny (Hicks) as a 25th birthday present for Blake (Mark Polish), she is initially disgusted at the atrocity of nature brought in front of her. Then upon returning, she sees the true beauty of the bond. Then she attempts to help Francis as he becomes sick, falling in love with Blake in the process.
The performers all give pretty good tries, but are overpowered by the weighty script. There was one thing that I did not understand at all: the director’s obsession with trying out many different filmmaking styles throughout the film (the black and white Ingmar Bergman rip-off near the end is the part that baffled me the most). Twin Falls Idaho is a respectable film that is just on the verge of a recommendation.
