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Identical brothers Michael and Mark Polish co-wrote and star in an enthralling filmmaking debut (which Michael directs) about conjoined twins, connected externally and internally from shoulder to hip, on a quest for love and roots.
In an unidentified, hauntingly impersonal and dehumanizing city whose only apparent features are seedy hotels and apartments and streets named Main and Idaho, Blake and Francis Falls have ventured into town on their Halloween birthday to find their birth mother. But first, perhaps to fortify his courage, Francis (Michael), the more frail and ever-so-slightly more thoughtful of the...pair, has phoned for a prostitute. Penny (the first film role for model Melanie Hicks, who looks like -- and this is meant as a compliment -- somebody nicked a lock of Winonangelina's hair during Girl, Interrupted and cloned their best features), a half-hearted working girl harboring secrets and derailed plans, is initially repulsed. But their gentle, almost beatific demeanor, which combined with their remarkable appearance and habit of whispering to each other evokes some prophetic mythological being, wins her over when she realizes they're simply looking for a little beauty in their lives. Trouble comes when Penny falls for stronger, more outgoing brother Blake (Mark), sparking a quiet jealousy between the twins that is finally resolved in semi-tragic, but equally quiet, fashion.
It's some task to keep this plot from sinking to tabloid depths, bad tabloid at that, but Twin Falls Idaho is one of those exemplary indie films that crafts a memorable thing with little fuss. Other than a few better-known cameos -- Garrett Morris shows up as a preacher, William Katt as a doctor, Lesley-Ann Warren as the reluctant mother -- most of the plot is simply the twins' carefully phrased insights about life around the edges. Curious and otherwise interesting images abound but don't overpower, leaving room for observations such as, when Francis is asked why his sketch of Blake and Penny doesn't include him, remarks "there's not enough room in the picture." Like their characters, the Polish brothers, who previously would only be familiar to anyone who remembers their gruesome bit parts (pardon the expression) in Hellraiser IV: Bloodline, have mined the subtle differences in their personalities to create a story that, while boasting no outstanding dramatic performances in the traditional sense, gets the most from cast, dialogue, and photography (among its awards and nominations are a few for cinematographer M. David Mullen) with a minimum of fuss and pretension. However bizarre it may all sound, this is a sweet, captivating little movie. B+
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