hall895 Lyle Maze is a successful painter and sculptor. But he lives a very lonely life, knowing he will never find love. He has Tourette's syndrome, with some OCD thrown in for good measure, and his affliction pretty much shuts him off from the world. What with the spasms, the tics, the strange noises he emits Lyle assumes nobody would ever love him. Loving him would be too much of a challenge. He really has one friend in the world, Mike, a doctor. Mike provides Lyle with the newest medication which would perhaps better control his symptoms. But Lyle refuses to take the pills. A stubborn man he is. But Mike's pretty stubborn too, not to mention oblivious. He's determined to save the world and flies off to Africa for seven months of humanitarian work. He leaves his pregnant girlfriend Callie behind. To be fair he doesn't know she's pregnant but you get the sense he wouldn't much care. So Mike's gone, Callie's all alone, and Lyle is perpetually alone. Pretty easy to see where this is headed.With Mike out of the picture Lyle and Callie connect. It starts innocently enough with Callie modeling for Lyle. As innocent as nude modeling can be anyway. But the more time they spend together the closer they become. Too close for Lyle's comfort as he doesn't want to betray the absent Mike. But Callie talks him down off the metaphorical ledge and the relationship blooms. He is there for support during her pregnancy. And she draws him out of his shell a bit, opening him up to the possibilities of life and love. She even sets him up on a date with a friend of hers, which his Tourette's causes to go less than well. But at least he tried. Truth is though if there's any woman he's going to love it's Callie herself. Which is obviously problematic.Rob Morrow, who not only played Lyle but directed the film, made a noble effort here. Lyle's battle to overcome his Tourette's and live a full life is a story which is surely worth being told. But the movie doesn't really work. As an actor Morrow works hard to sell Lyle's Tourette's. But as a director perhaps he should have reined himself in a bit. Morrow oversells it to the point the film quickly becomes very uncomfortable viewing. At some point all the tics and shakes and sounds just become a distraction. The movie's pacing is very slow and there's not much inherent drama. Once Mike takes off for Africa the whole thing becomes rather obvious. The relationship between Lyle and Callie evolves slowly, there are really no big moments to hook the viewer. It all leads up to an ending which on first glance seems clever but when you then think about it it's really a cheat. It's an ending the movie hasn't earned. Nothing we've seen beforehand sells the ending, which is jarringly abrupt, as being particularly plausible. This film was obviously a labor of love for Morrow but he didn't quite pull it off. He got a very good performance out of Laura Linney playing Callie. But his own performance left something to be desired. A challenging character to play to be sure but Morrow never seemed to find the best way to get Lyle's symptoms across. He went too far with his portrayal and the movie didn't go far enough with its story. There just aren't enough interesting things going on here. It's a film with a good message, about an affliction which need not destroy a life. But it's a message which deserved a better movie.

deckerst1 I just recently discovered this wonderful movie. I love movies that make me laugh and cry.Rob Morrow was so believable in his role. I will probably watch this movie over and over. We need more movies like this-people movies.I was so impressed with the storyline, the acting was terrific, I can't believe I haven't found it until now, but it made my whole day and I'll be passing it on to everyone I know who likes good movies. I also loved the soundtrack and have looked all over for it, and I cannot find it anywhere. If someone knows where I can get it or have one to sell, please contact me. I collect soundtracks and would like to add this one to my collection. Thanks.

tedg Spoilers herein.I have a hobby of carefully selecting films to see back to back. The very best experience is when you find two films that are imperfect by themselves, but when merged in one's mind become complete and powerful.This worked for me with `Maze' and `Immortality.' Both are about diseased, talented men who fall in love in an unwanted fashion. One involves birth, the other death. In perfect symmetry, one involves creative artifacts as art looking at bodies, the other art as actually being produced by bodies.One is a vampire movie. Vampire movies NEED redheads. The other film has the redhead, in almost irresistible, lovely, perfect openness. The vampire film eschews the compulsion and involuntary action usually found in the genre, where the other one embraces it.You really need to see both to see how perfectly these merge, how the impossibly sweet love of `Maze' fixes the problem with `Immortality' that the power of the love just isn't there. And similarly in `Maze,' the curse of the blood is always present, but never MEANS anything beyond a few comedic moments. Conflate the two and you have something constructed like Lynch's `Blue Velvet,' where darkness and light, love and curse, are played out as the battle between two film genres. `Velvet' had those two genres in the same film, but you as an intelligent viewer need not be so limited.You can even use the hooks each already provides: `Maze' shifts to shaky POV when the Tourette spasm strikes. Insert there, parts of `Immortality.' `Immortality,' on the other hand - following the French tradition - introduces the viewer (the policeman) into the story. He `creates' the vampire by watching: insert Lyle Maze's artistic process here, which in his home film is equated to the literal creation of a human (which is then introduced at an exhibit).Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Linneamcg I watched this movie with a great deal of interest as I have TS, as do both my sons. Rob Morrow gives a chilling performance - I thought he actually had Tourette's Syndrome. The frustration at not being able to do things the way he wants to because of his tics, the cruel comments from "normal people", the social ramifications and lack of self-worth were all portrayed exceptionally. I highly recommend this movie to anyone, but especially to those who know someone with TS. It gives a great deal of insight into the reality of life with TS. If you liked this movie you might want to see "The Tic Code" with Gregory Hines and Polly Draper.