It’s the Story: Every Time

Twin Falls Idaho

I wish I could say that every movie I see makes me feel as much as Twin Falls Idaho did. Released in 1999, the movie was directed by Michael Polish who also co-wrote and co-starred in the movie with his brother .

The two play conjoined twins Blake and Francis Falls. Rejected by their mother at birth, the two have spent their lives enduring the gawking and disbelief of others. When they meet Penny, a girl on a path to messing up her life for good, Blake begins to fall for her. Francis doesn’t like her and wants Blake to forget her.

Blake has always been the stronger of the two, physically well when Francis is often sick. When Francis’s heart becomes too weak to continue supporting him, the two are faced with the physical separation that will allow Blake to survive.

To watch this story unfold is to have your heart take wallop after wallop of emotion, at first, pity and then admiration and like Penny, we are soon fully in love with everything they are and represent.

I actually came across this movie when searching out work by Mark and Michael Polish. I had watched their For Lovers Only, a film they made together with Stana Katic. This was one of those films that I immediately had to watch again. The story was so magnetic, so engrossing that I knew I had stumbled across a gem.

For Lovers Only

What these two films have in common, other than the brothers involved in their creation, is a story that reaches out to its viewers and reels them in with a band to the heart. Story is the thing. It’s the Polish brothers thing. It’s my thing, too. All the bells and whistles of mega dollar productions can’t glue me to my seat, but a story where I am immediately compelled to care about the characters in front of me can.

I fell for Blake and Francis. I think you will, too.

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Inglath Cooper

I love books! From my earliest memories, I loved being read to and then reading practically every book in my elementary school library. There’s something about taking a little trip into a wonderful story that is its own unique pleasure. Over the years, my favorite authors have provided me with glimpses into worlds I would never have known had I not picked up their books. From Beverley Cleary to Lavyrle Spencer to Jodi Piccoult to Anita Shreve and so many others, I am grateful they chose to become storytellers. A great story has the power to move, change and shape its readers. To me, that’s an honorable calling and a task I aspire to.

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