Niagara, Niagara Reviews

Tourette's syndrome, personality disorders, troubled teens on the lam -- with baggage like that, it's surprising just how predictably director Bob Gosse's debut feature turns out to be. Marcy (Robin Tunney) and Seth (Henry Thomas) are two alienated teenagers in upstate New York who literally bump into each other while out shoplifting. Seth is shy and introverted, while Marcy is a poor little rich girl suffering from Tourette's syndrome -- which causes her body to convulse in uncontrollable twitches and tics -- and an obsessive-compulsive disorder that compels her to sort scattered objects into neat little piles. Angry that their local department store doesn't carry the black "Bobbi Styling Head" she so desperately wants, Marcy persuades Seth to hit the road for the nearest big city -- Toronto. They pile into Seth's car with a giant wheel of cheese, a credit card and a bottle of bourbon, but no prescription for Marcy's medication. Icing the old misunderstood-kids-on-the-road recipe with mental illness makes for a few interesting twists -- the formula certainly fares better here than in 1995's similar MAD LOVE -- but by the time the plot is mapped out, the script's run out of gas. In the end, it's the same old story: Marcy and Seth wind up in love and on the run from the law. Fortunately, the film manages to coast along on the considerable talents of its two leads: In a role that's all about losing it, Tunney gives an amazingly controlled performance, and Thomas does a fine job riding shotgun.