Maze

While flipping channels yesterday, I came across this movie. It immediately drew me in, and I found myself forgetting about everything around me. The character development and intense love story struck a chord in my whole being. I just fell in love with Lyle, and have so much empathy for how he lived and what he experienced. This was the most touching movie I have seen in a long while. It was not written just for the sake of telling a love story, but obviously written to tell a story about the souls of two people who fall madly in love. A learning experience about human nature and the human spirit awaits you in 'Maze.'

I kind of liked this movie, but I feel it is not quite as good as the reviews indicate. Good points: Excellent acting all around, good writing and decent direction. Bad points: Very slow pacing (too many dead spots), weak editing, and an annoying cinematography technique of switching to a first person view (and a blurry one at that) when Lyle is having a Tourette's attack. Overall: Good, but not great, 6/10.

"Maze" tells of a trio of young adults with one being an artist with Tourette's syndrome, Lyle Maze (Morrow)...oh, and a baby too. Slick, fresh, and a different kind, a better kind of love story, "Maze" integrates Tourette's with the other aspects of the film but the film is not about Tourette's. It's about love. Not romance. Love.

A finely crafted piece, "Maze" spends the whole run time developing the characters and their relationships while explaining nothing, refusing to be a typical Hollywood no-brainer by spelling everything out with sky writing. Rather it assumes the audience is intelligent and empathic enough to understand the thoughts and feelings of the characters...something more often seen in foreign films. The antithesis of schmaltz, this hip and light-hearted drama is easy to get into, runs quick, and has a great ending. Kudos to Morrow for this wonderful film. ("Maze" also has the best birth scene I've seen in a movie.)

We also liked this film very much. Morrow works hard, as an actor AND as a director, to help you see the world thru Lyle Maze's eyes. It's fascinating to watch him work -- when he's sketching, he becomes totally engrossed as an artist & his spasms stop. Then the "real world" intervenes. & his behavior gets worse & worse the more he tries to control it.

But the name of this film is totally wrong. Maybe it's based on a true story (the credits have a reference to National Public Radio but don't provide any detail), nevertheless, calling it MAZE is very misleading & won't help people find it. So if YOU saw it & YOU liked it, do your part to spread the word!

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.