The Tic Code

Polly Draper (who wrote this and co-stars) can be truly proud of this effort, a beautiful and deeply felt labor of love. Brilliant performances from the always-sublime Gregory Hines and Chris Marquette, who portrays the young Miles with breathtaking believability; he does not hit a false note in the entire movie, and his scenes are not easy, which is an understatement. Never wallowing in sentimentality, the film maintains a gritty, soulful tone throughout. Highly recommended.

"The Tic Code" tells of a boy (Marquette) with Tourette's syndrome who plays jazz piano and makes friends with a professional sax player (Hines) who also has the affliction. A well crafted, earnest, and honest effort, the film would appear to be a labor of love as, according to IMDB.com info, Draper, who wrote the screenplay and played the boy's mother, is married to a jazz musician with Tourette's (who has a bit part in the movie). The film features solid performances by all with an exceptional job by Marquette, some good jazz music, and insights into the tic fraught life. Unfortunately, The Tic Code is not likely to be as commercially successful as it should because Tourette's pales in comparison with terminal cancer, for example, and will likely seem little more than a mildly troublesome disorder to a jaded public. Kudos to all who supported this worthy project.

I was late to this movie and only caught the last half, so I stayed at the theater and watched it again.

On the surface, it is a well-acted, poignant story of a single mom, her son with TS, and her romance with a man with TS. Both guys are brilliant jazz musicians. Much of the film is about the pains of coping with TS (with occasional bright spots), and the tics and emotions are very realistic. However, anybody could easily substitute TS with an affliction that constantly causes ridicule, isolation, anger, and bitterness, and embarrassment; an affliction that prevents a person from living a so-called "normal" life.

As a 24-year-old Touretter, the movie just struck me right to the heart, because I was watching myself on film. (The part when the kid faces his father hit me the most.) I could see myself in all three characters: a mother who is frustrated and helpless at helping her son cope with TS (my fears of having kids w/TS), a talented young boy and his self-hatred and despair from having this uncontrollable condition, and the older man and his refusal to confront decades of being thought of as a "weirdo."

I admit that I was crying for most of both showings. TS is by no means the worst medical problem in the world, but its internal conflicts can be very destructive, and they are usually invisible to the outside world, which is quite an ironic juxtaposition to its obvious visible traits (the tics, and the excess and often humorous/gifted energy). This movie does a good job of showing what Touretter's face every single day.

On the 45-mile drive home afterwards, I was just numb. Maybe I was all cried out. Or maybe it was a brief catharsis. Or, maybe, I just wanted some... peace, before the next storm of tics.

-d.

The Tic Code is a touching drama about a boy who suffers from Tourette's syndrome, his mother who tries to support her son and a jazz musician who also is afflicted with TS. The film is heart-rending to watch, especially the scenes where the boy tries to understand why his father has abandoned him. In the centre of the film is an absolutely brilliant performance by Chris Marquette as the boy. An astonishing performance.

Tourette's syndrome has also been the focus of Jonathan Lethem's great novel Motherless Brooklyn, which is a novel I recommend, even though it is nothing like this film.

(6/10)

THE TIC CODE (2000) **1/2 Polly Draper, Gregory Hines, Christopher George Marquette, Desmond Robertson, Carol Kane, Tony Shalhoub, Bill Nunn, Fisher Stevens, Robert Iler, Camryn Manheim. Affective character study of a young boy (newcomer Marquette in a remarkable display of natural acting) whose undeniable prodigious musical talent is only marred by his ongoing struggle with Tourette's Syndrome with the support of his strong-spirited single mother (Draper very good, who also wrote the screenplay) and the jazz saxophone player (Hines, equally exemplary) who enters their lives who also shares the affliction.

Smartly written and presented with a nice flow of direction until the final moments that feel overwrought. Draper based the storyline loosely on her husband Michael Wolff's own personal experience with the condition (the musician has a cameo and also scored the film) which adds another layer of conviction to the seriousness it is respected with. (Dir: Gary Winick)