Simpatico [DVD]

A kentucy horse breeder owner (Jeff Bridges) plunges into the aftermath of a racing scam after his derelict buddy (Nick Notle) calls from california and makes murky references to a crime from the men`s past (Albert Finney).The all star cast is excellent from Bridges, Notle, Finney, Catherine Kinner & Sharon Stone. This film is based on a play by Sam Shepard works well on screen. Well directed by Matthew Warchus.DVD`s has fine anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer & An good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. An stunning one of a kind film. Grade:A-.

Good movie , good price , title hard to find , older movie

"Simpatico" PLOT: The lives of a rich horse-breeder and his wife are turned upside-down when an old friend returns with some incriminating evidence to link them to a blackmailing scheme which occurred about 20 years earlier Directed by Matthew Warchus (

Terrible, awful, disgusting. Why Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, and especially Albert Finney would lend their name to this garbage should be the subject of a book. I can see Sharon Stone here but not the others. You've been warned. I'd be ashamed to even try and sell it.

Academy Award Nominee, Nick Nolte. Academy Award Nominee, Jeff Bridges. And Academy Award Nominee Sharon Stone. How much can three friends share? A GREAT MOVIE -- Simpatico. I loved Simpatico to it's very ending. I loved the dramatic and intriguing cinematography. I loved the music (especially the ending "Games People Play" by Petula Clark). But I loved watching the characters just melt into the sinful guilt and shame that they all were apart of. I'm probably the biggest Sharon Stone fan in the world, but this is not a Sharon Stone film. She doesn't come in till the third act, which to me doesn't truly give the film justice because she had a big part in the scandal when they were younger (which is detailed threw flashbacks). The screenplay is magnificent. It's very fun to watch Nick Nolte as the "down and out" kind of guy (again), transform into the Clean cut Jeff Bridges character, as Jeff goes the other way. This movie displays for us what a secret can do to you over the years. It can come back and start to devour you in entirely. Simpatico (which is based upon the play by Sam Shepard) is an extrodinary piece of modern human intrest story. It is a true winner. An ultimate 5 star film.

guys There's nothing really wrong with the movie It's competently acted, well filmed, and although first-time film director Matthew Warchus doesn't really open up the film, nothing really bad can be said about the direction. Even the plotline works, although at certain times the past-tense scenes seem intrusive

Ugh...

Summary:Vincent "Vinny" T. Webb (Nick Nolte; Young Vinnie Webb - Shawn Hatosy) is an alcoholic with a guilty conscience. Years ago he and his best friend, Lyle Carter (Jeff Bridges; Young Lyle Carter - Liam Waite), rigged some horse races with the help of Lyle's now wife, Rosie (Sharon Stone; Young Rosie - Kimberly Williams (I)). But rigging the races isn't what the guilty conscience is from. The racing commissioner (Albert Finney) caught on to what they were doing. So the three friends set him up; Rosie had sex with him while Vinny took pictures. They then used the pictures to get him to keep quiet while they won their final race. After the last race, Rosie took off with Lyle, even though Vinny wanted to marry her.Vinny has kept the pictures for roughly 20 years as a means of controlling Lyle. Lyle went on to make something of himself, becoming quite wealthy and continuing to participate in horse racing. He even lives in Kentucky now, near the location of the Kentucky Derby. He married Rosie who has developed a love for horses, especially the one the story is named after - Simpatico. Whenever Vinny needs anything, he calls up Lyle and, because Vinny still has the evidence from their crime so many years ago, Lyle has to concede to whatever Vinny wants.Well, that's all just the backstory, which takes the whole movie to figure out. The movie actually begins when (this is my interpretation) Vinny can't take the guilt anymore and decides to play his hand by giving the pictures to someone (he tries to give them to the racing commissioner to clear his name and to Rosie, but both refuse). To clear the way for him to get them to Rosie he tricks Lyle to fly out to California saying he is in trouble. He isn't really but ends up stealing Lyle's wallet, return flight pass, and cash and heading to Kentucky to try to get rid of the pictures. Once Lyle realizes what has happened he tries to send Vinny's current love interest, Cecilia (Catherine Keener), after him, but the realization of the havoc Vinny is likely to cause gets to him (again, my interpretation) and Lyle and Vinny temporarily switch roles with Vinny becoming the business man and Lyle the drunk. Now everyone involved has to come to terms with the past and the future that has resulted from it.My Comments:I'd like to meet Nick Nolte one day, perhaps follow him around and see what he is really like. Has he ever played a role where he was sober the whole time? I mean, the guy just seems to get typecast into the role of a drunk in every move he is in. Anyway, the acting in this movie is okay. So, too, is the cinematography. Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges were pretty good, and so were all of the young counterparts and the racing commissioner. However, I didn't like the two women leads, - Sharon Stone and Catherine Keener. I think Catherine Keener was more convincing than Sharon Stone, but perhaps the reason I didn't like either of them that much wasn't so because there acting was so poor (I don't really think it was all that great), but because they were trying to play characters that just weren't working. Catherine was trying play a naive woman from California and Sharon was playing an embittered wife who was still fixated on a trick from 25-30 years ago.This leads to the biggest problem I saw with the movie - the story. I guess it's kind of credible, but a major stretch. I wouldn't really know if people do these kinds of things; I've never done anything like it. But the responses of the main characters to the crime were, I don't know, not fitting. I guess theoretically it's possible that Vinny would take to drinking and not make anything of his life, same too for Rosie. But I doubt it. After 30 years or so you'd think people would get over it. Also, Lyle's response to Vinny heading to Kentucky made no sense either. I guess he was thinking that he was going to lose everything, but instead of trying to go to Kentucky to stop him, he gets sloshed and tries to hide from the world. It just didn't make any sense. Overall, the movie is kind of interesting just because all of the characters are screwed up, but the unconvincing storyline kind of ruins the movie.One final thing - what's the big deal with the Kentucky Derby? I live less than 100 miles from where it takes place and everyone I talk to (definitely a biased sample, I recognize that) seems to think that it's kind of silly. Why all the mystique about it in the movie? I've never been and have no intention of going.Anyway, this is one that you could miss and not feel bad about having done so. It definitely didn't leave a lasting impression on me and unless someone asks me about it, I highly doubt I'll be talking about it again.

This is my primary exposure to Sam Shepherd’s plays and while I found the actors were gold the material was rather...ho-hum.

Anyway. Aside from any horse related nastiness. This film is ok. Just ok. Catherine Keener is brilliant and lovely. Albert Finney is a joy to watch as always. It's not a bad film it's just not that great either. I have seen much much worse. But I've also seen much much better too. For a far superior Sharon Stone starrer I would HIGHLY reccommend The Mighty (1998). And for Jeff Bridges The Vanishing (1994) is, in my opinion, better than this film. Also check out Arlington Road (1999) for Bridges.

good

this one crept under my radar did it go straight to dvd ?.it's a good film.. well acted and well worth watching.

Die Story verspricht viel, doch sie interessiert so wirklich kaum Jemanden, wie es im Film mit dem eigentlich betroffenen geht. Eine 20 Jahre zurück liegende Verfehlung, die an den Haaren herbei gezogen wird und in einen schön verklebten Karton gesperrt wird. Jetzt, nach diesen 20 Jahren, wird das schlechte Gewissen an die Oberfläche gezerrt und es geschieht eine Verwandlung der HAndelnden. Der eigentlich Böse wird vom anerkannten Geschäftsmann zum Trinker, der Trinker zum Anwalt des Guten im Anzug, die Ehefrau zum pferdemordenden Häufchen Unglück.Fazit: es hätte so spannend sein können, aber mir sind die Augen fast zugefallen vor Langeweile. Deshalb ist mir der tiefere Sinn wahrscheinlich auch entgangen.