Main Cast: Michael Polish, Mark Polish, Michele Hicks, Jon Gries, Patrick Bauchau, Garrett Morris, William Katt, Lesley Ann Warren
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Identical twin brothers Mark Polish and Michael Polish have written, directed, and starred in an emotional romance about a prostitute who falls in love with Siamese twins. The Polish Brothers play the conjoined twins Blake and Francis Falls, who are joined at the chest and thus share many vital organs. They have come to the big city to find their long-lost mother and end their suffering once and for all. As a birthday present to themselves, they hire a pretty young prostitute named Penny Michele Hicks to comfort them in their dark hotel room. Turned off at first, Penny eventually sees beyond the boys' disabilities and agrees to help them. She invites them to an underground Halloween party where they finally fit in for the first time in their lives, albeit as part of a freak show. Slowly Penny falls in love with Blake; she explores his body in such a sensual way that she is both attracted and repulsed by his deformed torso. Eventually, Blake reveals that his better half, Francis, is dying. He must choose between dying with his brother or a risky operation that would allow him to be separated and further explore the love he has experienced with Penny. Can Blake adjust to an identity of his own? Can he ever get over the guilt of abandoning his brother? Is life worth living when a part of you is gone? ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
Review
Twin Falls Idaho is a wildly original and emotionally potent slice of weirdness that recalls the films of David Lynch, both visually and tonally, while exploring thematic territory previously undocumented on film. An eerily unconventional sight to behold, especially with the sophisticated makeup effects and cloaking of the actors' extra body parts, Mark and Michael Polish's conjoined twins inspire endless philosophical quandaries about the nature of wholeness and identity. What is smart about their screenplay is that it does not serve these up on a platter. In fact, many of the film's wrenching plot details, like the fact that Michele Hicks' prostitute lives with the guilt of having given up a retarded child for adoption, are only hinted at in the script, with supreme respect for minimalism and the viewer's capacity for appreciating nuance. Newcomer Hicks is a revelation as the viewer's surrogate, who restrains a flood of curious questions in deference to an awkward politeness. Visually, she strikes as much of an impression as the freakish twins, with her gothic mascara and hauntingly gaunt figure. After opening up a wellspring of previously unconsidered questions about the logistics of the twins' social life, sleeping patterns, and biological commingling, the Polish brothers address them in a satisfying succession throughout the gradual narrative, often through the tactless prying of secondary characters. Identical twins in the viewing audience may find Twin Falls Idaho especially fertile, since these issues work as a fascinating extension of their unique sibling bond, with which the directors are quite familiar. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Teresa Hill - Sissy; ANT - Tre; Holly Woodlawn - Flamboyant At Party
Credit
Grace Li - Art Director, David Cohn - Associate Producer, Jon Gries - Associate Producer, Julie Lynn - Associate Producer, Paul Torok - Co-producer, Bic Owen - Costume Designer, Andrew Miller - First Assistant Director, Michael Polish - Director, Leo Trombetta - Editor, Joyce Schweickert - Executive Producer, Stuart Matthewman - Composer (Music Score), Gary J. Tunnicliffe - Makeup Special Effects, Warren Alan Young - Production Designer, M. David Mullen - Cinematographer, Steven J. Wolfe - Producer, Rena Ronson - Producer, Marshall Persinger - Producer, Alysia D. Allen - Set Designer, Matthew Nicolay - Sound/Sound Designer, Mark Polish - Screenwriter, Michael Polish - Screenwriter, Jim Bruce - Assistant Editor
The film portrays the lives of shy conjoined twins Blake and Francis Falls, who take residence in a rundown hotel to hopefully reunite with their estranged birth mother; secluding themselves from the outside world. They find their gateway to the outside world through an eccentric young prostitute named Penny. They agree to attend a Halloween party with Penny and pretend to be wearing a "Siamese Twins" costume. The rest of the movie involves the brothers dealing with Francis's health problems, the changing relationship between the brothers, and Blake's budding relationship with Penny. Ultimately Francis's health deteriorates too far and the twins have to be separated. Francis is too sick to survive and dies, but Blake survives and must begin a life apart from his twin. Penny visits him and the two start a relationship.
Reception
The film was a minor critical and financial success. It has received a 74% "Fresh" rating from critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com[1] and won awards at the Athens International Film Festival and the Deauville Film Festival. Its limited American theatrical run earned approximately double its $500,000 budget. It has since been released to DVD.
