''Simpatico'' is a 1999
American crime film co-written and directed by
Matthew Warchus and starring
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...
,
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...
,
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
,
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...
and
Albert Finney. It was adapted for the screen from the 1994 play ''
Simpatico'' by
Sam Shepard
Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...
.
Plot
Three young
confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...
sters— Vinnie, Carter and Rosie — pull off a racing scam, substituting winners for plodders and winning big money on long odds. When an official uncovers the scam, they set him up for
blackmail. Twenty years later, Carter and Rosie are married, successful racers in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
about to sell their prize stallion, Simpatico. Vinnie, meanwhile, is a drunk in
Pomona. Vinnie decides to make a play for Rosie, lures Carter to
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, steals his wallet and heads for Kentucky with the original blackmail material. Carter begs Vinnie's friend, a grocery clerk named Cecilia, to follow Vinnie and recover the material that he has in a box.
Cast
*
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...
as Vinnie Webb
**
Shawn Hatosy
Shawn Wayne Hatosy is an American film and television actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In & Out'', ''The Faculty'', '' Outside Providence'', '' Anywhere but Here'', ''The Cooler'', and ''Alpha Dog''. He is also w ...
as Young Vinnie Webb
*
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...
as Lyle Carter
*
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
as Rosie Carter
**
Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Kimberly Payne Williams-Paisley (née Williams; born September 14, 1971) is an American actress known for her co-starring roles on ''According to Jim'' and '' Nashville,'' as well as her breakthrough performance in '' Father of the Bride'' (199 ...
as Young Rosie Carter
*
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...
as Cecilia
*
Albert Finney as Simms
Reception
The film received negative reviews from critics. It currently holds a 25% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 61 reviews.
References
External links
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1999 crime thriller films
1999 films
American crime thriller films
Films set in Kentucky
French films based on plays
English-language French films
French crime thriller films
British films based on plays
British crime thriller films
American films based on plays
Films with screenplays by David Nicholls
Films scored by Stewart Copeland
American neo-noir films
2000 directorial debut films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
1990s British films
1990s French films
2000s French films
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