Twin Falls Idaho

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic movie
Review: This movie's been accused of being Lynchian. Now I am a huge Lynchian fan but this is very different. Lynch isn't too interested in character depth which is one of the main emphasis of this movie.
Being a twin myself, I really appreciated the focus on the issue. It handles the difficulties of it in a just way. The Polish Brothers being twins themselves, obviously put some thought into this movie, adding some fresh perspective to the subject, hardly put into the movies. Other than this I loved the dark, dream like feel to the picture. Although it got a bit of attention I think it was sadly overlooked.

Rating:
Summary: 20 Red Rose Pedals
Review: Twin Falls Idaho provides a charming story of love between two siamese twin brothers and a beautiful prostitute; one brother feeling he will soon be replaced by the love the other brother feels for the sweet model turned hooker. A movie worth watching, a tragic tale with a happy ending.

Rating:
Summary: Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun
Review: Twin Falls Idaho takes you into the world of Blake and Francis Falls, making you realize the hardships of others and making you examine yourself and your thoughts. Immediately, you are drawn in by the kind, friendly, and sarcastic aspects of the Falls' brothers personalities. This movie will keep you intrigued, make you laugh, and make you cry. The directing and acting of the Polish brothers is profound. It is definately a movie to be rewound and watched again... and again.

Rating:
Summary: Brothers to the end
Review: What can I say about this movie? It has a great but uncomplicated story that really works. Acting on siamese twins are very good and the dream sequence of the two brothers getting seperated is absolutely beautiful. This movie will sure make you think and feel about people who are rarely seen and respected. Watch it and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Shamelessly cool
Review: While in some ways an interesting look at a subject that has not been explored much (at all?) in film, this is one of the worst movies I have seen in a while.

The script, direction, acting and cinematography are self-conscious to the point of being over-the-top. There are numerous scenes where you could say "ah I see that's supposed to symbolise THAT" - there is nothing subtle about Twin Falls Idaho, regardless of its slow pace. Everything is delivered to us with a film-school handbook about metaphors and mood lighting.

People have compared the Polish brothers to David Lynch and other directors of his style. Unlike David Lynch's films, this one leaves NOTHING to the imagination. It just looks like it does.

Rating:
Summary: lowkeyed, subtle drama
Review: `Twin Falls Idaho' proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that love stories do indeed come in every shape, size and form. This low budget, independent film actually tells two love stories: one between two brothers conjoined together from birth and the other between them and a golden-hearted prostitute who befriends them.

This movie is an obvious labor of love on the part of the filmmakers. Writer/director Michael Polish and his real life identical twin brother, Mark, who co-wrote the screenplay, also star as Francis and Blake Falls, a pair of Siamese twins who, on their birthday, order up a hooker played by newcomer Michelle Hicks. Though initially frightened away by the `freakishness' of the situation, the young lady, Penny, finds herself growing attached to these two painfully quiet and withdrawn young men who seem to have a strange symbiotic relationship she is unable to comprehend but which, in some strange way, speaks to a yearning for companionship lodged deep within her own troubled soul. The film becomes a moving study of three social outcasts groping towards each other for support and affirmation.

In many ways, the most striking aspect of the film is the quiet, hushed tone it uses to unfold a drama that could, by its very nature, easily succumb to cheap sensationalism and exploitation. Blake and Francis, so long conditioned by a lifetime of societal rejection to draw into themselves and stay conveniently out of sight, have created a private universe where they barely ever speak above a whisper. Penny, herself lost in a cold, uncaring world, seems instinctively drawn to the innate goodness and politeness of the two men and she quickly learns to look beyond the physical difference that has served as a barrier between them and so many others. The film also does not go for the obvious choices one might expect in a work about misunderstood social outcasts; it, wisely, refrains from ladling on emotionally manipulative scenes in which people stare rudely at the pair or in which opportunistic exploiters work their wiles on the boys. Although the film does touch on both those issues in a minor way, the primary focus always remains the relationship that is developing among the three main characters. There is a haunting sequence in which Blake, the healthier and more physically robust of the two, in a fit of pent-up frustration, actually attempts to pull away from Francis - emotionally if not quite physically. But Blake realizes that he and his brother are fated to go through eternity together one way or the other and that he really would not want it any other way. Indeed, this is as much a love story about two brothers as it is about two men and a woman.

As the Siamese twins, the Polish brothers achieve a remarkable triumph on the level of sheer physicality, somehow convincing us, by their movements and mannerisms, that they really are two people sharing the same body. More impressively, they bring a beautifully understated pathos to their interactions both with each other and the people with whom they come in contact. Ditto for Michelle Hicks who effectively conveys the compassionate understanding that brings a rare ray of light to the otherwise dark world in which the boys live out their secret life.

One could argue that `Twin Falls Idaho' hedges its bets by portraying a pair of Siamese twins with which no audience would have any trouble falling in love. And, perhaps, there is something to be said for that criticism. A more courageous film might have shown us a slightly more combative, angered or embittered pair, one which struck out at an unreasoningly prejudiced and cruel world in ways that might make them less palatable to us and therefore much harder to like. Perhaps. Yet, as the first film that I can ever remember even having the nerve to tackle such a risky subject, `Twin Falls Idaho,' in its call for tolerance and understanding, deserves all the kudos it has rightfully received.