"Twin Falls Idaho" is a dream-haunter of a film! Lovingly and meticulously directed by Michael Polish and written with quiet brilliance by Mark Polish (with help from twin brother Michael), this gentle, soft-spoken film is one of the three best films of 1999. The imagery in the film is often gritty and stark, pointing out subtext to the audience without utilizing masks or shadows. It's a wonderful story about the nature of relationships; about love and marriage and "divorce"; and about the lives of those unfortunates society labels as "different", and the realization that they are not so different as society may have initially supposed. The acting is superb; the Polish brothers are completely believable as the conjoined twins Blake and Francis Falls, performing feats like deftly buttoning up each other's shirts or playing the guitar together (Blake strums while Francis manages the fret for chord changes) as if they had, indeed, done it all their lives. As the film rolled on, I found myself loving these two guys as unique and colorful individuals, and empathizing with their plight. And the often-used "Hooker with a Heart" character Penny is given new light and life by Mark Polish's careful crafting of the character and by Michelle Hicks edgy yet warm performance. If you're like me, "Twin Falls Idaho" will leave you awake nights, thinking long and long. I look forward to seeing what the Polish brothers will do next, either collaboratively or on their own.
