Simpatico

1999 1h 46m EN

💀

4.9

SKIP

★4.9TMDB · 43

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

As youths in Azusa, Vinnie, Carter, and Rosie pull off a racing scam, substituting winners for plodders and winning big bucks on long odds. When an official uncovers the scam, they set him up for blackmail. Jump ahead twenty years, Carter and Rosie are married, successful racers in Kentucky about to sell their prize stallion, Simpatico. Vinnie is a drunk in Pomona. Vinnie decides to make a play for Rosie, lures Carter to California, 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 get the stuff back that he has in a box. Will she succeed?

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Nick Nolte
Vincent Webb
Jeff Bridges
Lyle Carter
Sharon Stone
Rosie
Catherine Keener
Cecilia
Albert Finney
Simms
Shawn Hatosy
Young Vinnie
Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Young Rosie
Liam Waite
Young Carter

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Matthew Warchus
Writers: Matthew Warchus, David Nicholls
Languages: English
Countries: France, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 9% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Matthew Warchus, shot by John Toll. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Stewart Copeland. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Pasquale Buba shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0174204 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Matthew Warchus directs. John Toll behind the camera. Stewart Copeland scores. Pasquale Buba cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 9% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 3 countries: France, United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by Matthew Warchus, shot by John Toll. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Stewart Copeland. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Pasquale Buba shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0174204 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 43 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Toll
Original score: Stewart Copeland
Editing: Pasquale Buba
Production design: Amy Ancona
Costume design: Karen Patch
Stunt coordinator: Ernie F. Orsatti
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $929,606
Return: 9% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Simpatico (1999)

Also by

Matthew Warchus

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-07-06
★ 6/10
Infertiile Neo-Noir? Simpatico is directed by Matthew Warchus and Warchus co-adapts the screenplay with David Nicholls from the play written by Sam Shepard. It stars Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Sharon Stone, Catharine Keener and Albert Finney. Music is by Stewart Copeland and cinematography is by John Toll. Three young confidence tricksters have orchestrated a horse racing scam tat is making them big money. However, when the scam is unearthed by a top official they set him up for blackmail and make off into the sun. Twenty years later the three of them are brought together by circumstance and the time of emotional reckoning… It was met with disdain by critics and film goers alike, and even now some 20 years after it was first released it holds below average ratings on the main internet film sites. Is this fair? Does it at the least deserve to be revisited and re-evaluated on its neo-noir character driven terms? Well sort of… Off the bat it deserves better scores than those afforded it on line purely for the acting alone, this is a high grade group of actors breathing life into damaged characters. Very much a talky character driven piece (stage origins boom out from the off), the screenplay does have a deft potency about it, dealing as it does about shame and guilt and the foundation of success built out of financial gain, with the kicker being the long term repercussions of youthful criminality. Dialogue is often sparky (helps being delivered by those fine actors of course), Toll’s cinematography around the Kentucky locales is beautiful, and come the final resolutions to the main characters journey we get a huge emotionally metaphorical whack. However, there’s an overuse of the flashback structure to show us the principals in their younger scamming – life altering – days (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Shawn Hatosy and Liam Waite). Annoyingly there’s also the puzzling question hanging over the play as to if this is a simple life story of errors never mended – of cheats prospering only to fall at the later in life hurdle? Or is this attempting to be a complex study of the human condition? Maybe even giving us a stark warning, a message piece if you will. Of course, maybe that’s Shepard’s thing? to not have definite answers? Either way it’s a little frustrating to not have an absolute with such a strong character piece. It’s hardly a must see recommended picture, that’s for sure, in fact Warchus’ first time direction away from the actors is uncomfortably staid. Yet there’s some nice craft here, and a tantalising “more than meets the eye” question mark that keeps you interested if you be so inclined to stick with it. Infertile or interesting? 6/10

Production companies