Niagara, Niagara

Released 1997
Stars Robin Tunney, Henry Thoma, Michael Parks, Stephen Lang, John MacKay
Directed by Bob Gosse

"Niagara, Niagara" is about two misfits who become lovers and hit the road, where the cruel world boots them toward a tragic conclusion. This is not a new idea, but the movie contains three strong performances, and a subject rarely explored: the affliction of Tourette's syndrome.

Marcy (Robin Tunney) and Seth (Henry Thomas) meet while shoplifting. In the parking lot outside the store, they share a broken conversation, until Marcy finally admits that she can't look at someone while talking to them, and notices that Seth can't, either: "I like that." Outsiders and loners, they fall into each other's arms by default, and Seth is too shy or uncertain to show that he notices her sometimes strange behavior. She levels with him: She has Tourette's syndrome, which in her case takes the form of sudden tics, conclusions, arm-flailing, bursts of aggressive behavior and acting-out. There's medication to control it. And she constantly takes little drinks out of a flask, because booze seems to help. "And sex helps. For some reason, sex helps."

How many times have we seen Tourette's syndrome on the screen? Hardly ever. So why not devise a story that would be about these two characters and their problems, rather than plugging them into a road movie? The movie is good, but could have been better if it had been set free to explore. Robin Tunney is sometimes scary, she's so good at conveying her character's torment (she won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival). And Henry Thomas has developed into a fine actor, able to be quiet and absorbed. The materials were here for a different kind of film, in which the souls of the characters had an effect on the outcome. In "Niagara, Niagara," we want to warn them there's no hope. They're in the wrong genre for that.

Summary by Roger Ebert