''Niagara, Niagara'' is a 1997 film directed by Bob Gosse, and starring

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and rece ...

Robin Tunney Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress who made her film debut in '' Encino Man'' (1992), and later rose to prominence with headline parts in the cult films ''Empire Records'' (1995) and '' The Craft'' (1996). Her performance in ...

, as well as

Michael Parks Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks; April 24, 1940 – May 9, 2017) was an American singer and actor who made numerous film and television appearances, notably starring in the 1969–1970 series '' Then Came Bronson.'' He was widely known ...

John Ventimiglia John Ventimiglia (, ; born ) is an American actor. He portrayed Artie Bucco in the HBO television series ''The Sopranos'' and had a recurring role as Dino Arbogast, an Organized Crime Control Bureau Chief for the NYPD, on the American police pr ...

and

Stephen Lang Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American stage and screen actor. He gained fame for his role as main antagonist Miles Quaritch, Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's ''Avatar (2009 film), Avatar'' (2009), for which he won the Saturn ...

. The film is a dark and tragic romantic tale about young love, drugs, a cross country trip and

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinkin ...

. Filmed locations were New Paltz,

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

and

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, as well as Niagara Falls and Canada. The film was produced by the New York City based Shooting Gallery. The film was praised internationally, particularly in the UK, but American critics were mixed. Robin Tunney's performance garnered her the Volpi Cup Award for Best Actress at the 1997

Venice International Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

. The film has fallen into a cult status, due to underground popularity.

Plot

The film begins with Seth and Marcy shoplifting items from a dollar type store. The two crooks crash into each other and soon a friendship ensues. After giving Marcy a ride to her weekend job, Seth goes home to his abusive and somewhat mentally unstable father. The next day Seth is at a different store where he runs into Marcy. After driving over to her home and picking up some of Marcy's personal items, they begin a drive north to Canada in pursuit of a black Barbie styling head for Marcy. On their drive north, Marcy is unable to hide her

tic A tic is a sudden and repetitive motor movement or vocalization that is not rhythmic and involves discrete muscle groups. Tics are typically brief and may resemble a normal behavioral characteristic or gesture. Tics can be invisible to the obs ...

s. At one point, she has an outburst in a parking lot and attacks a guy who was shouting insults to Seth. From this point on, the only things that keep her tics and behaviors at bay are sex and alcohol. In desperation to get her hands on the antipsychotic haloperidol, they attempt to rob a pharmacy. The pharmacist catches them and shoots Seth in the leg with a shot gun. The two get away, but one of the car tires is hit in the process and eventually Marcy crashes the car. An old man named Walter tows their truck to his place and helps take care of Seth's wound. Over the course of a week, he teaches the two how to shoot and catch fish. After a local deputy comes by asking Walter if he'd seen the pair, Marcy has a severe outburst and beats Walter. Seth and Marcy take off in Walter's truck. The pair make it to Canada and find the Barbie head. The only available black Barbie head is a display model that the store manager refuses to sell. Marcy again has a violent outburst and the cops are called. When the police arrive, she grabs the gun from one police officer and the other surprises her from a side aisle and shoots her dead. Seth is arrested. Later, we see Walter reading an apologies letter with $20 from Seth. Seth narrates the happy ending that did not happen, as Walter reads his letter.

Cast

as Seth *

as Marcy *

as Walter *

as Claude * Candy Clark as Sally *

as Doug *

Clea DuVall Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977) is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Her film appearances include ''The Faculty'' (1998); ''But I'm a Cheerleader''; ''Girl, Interrupted (film), Girl, Interrupted'' (both ...

as Convenience Store Hostage *

Shawn Hatosy Shawn Wayne Hatosy (born December 29, 1975) is an American film and television actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the films ''In & Out (film), In & Out'' (1997), ''The Faculty'' (1998), ''Outside Providence (film), Outside Pro ...

as Parking Lot Teen *Justin Salsberg as Parking Lot Teen *

Jonathan Wong Jonathan Wong Chee-Hynn ( 王梓軒), born June 3, 1986, is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and producer. Biography Born in the United States, Jonathan picked up the piano and violin at the age of 6 and began taking a serious interest in ...

as Onlooker

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film received a 53% approval rating, based on 15 reviews. American film critics

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

awarded the film two thumbs up with the latter voicing his disappointment with the film’s genre as a

road movie A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...

, but nevertheless stated that, “The movie is good, but could have been better if it had been set free to explore.”

References

External links

* * {{Bob Gosse 1997 films 1990s drama road movies American drama road movies Films directed by Bob Gosse 1990s English-language films 1997 drama films 1990s American films Films about Tourette syndrome