SIMPATICO
Reviewed by Harvey Karten Fine Line Features/Emotion Films Director: Matthew Warchus Writer: Matthew Warchus, David Nicholls, play by Sam Shepard Cast: Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Sharon Stone, Catherine Keener, Albert Finney
Just as the "in" thing to say is "the book is better than the movie," the appropriate way to describe a movie that has come out of a staged play is that they should have left it off- Broadway where it belongs. August Strindberg's "Miss Julie," David Mamet's "Oleanna," Paul Rudnick's "Jeffrey"--all have been compromised or downright ruined by being "opened up" on the big screen. Not only do filmed plays look either claustrophobic or artificially extended when put on the huge silver screen: the language, which is usually the key attribute of a staged work, gets lost. Sam Shepard's play, "Simpatico," is a good example of a work whose language simply disperses into the alfalfa-perfumed air of Kentucky where many of its scenes take place.
Directed with a star-studded cast by Matthew Warchus--who has done impressive work on Broadway with his Tony- nominated hit "Art" and is known for solid work on London's West End ("Falstaff," "Hamlet,")--Warchus is out of his element with this rambling movie, whose rhythms and poetry are squandered amid a convoluted tale. Dealing with some of Sam Shepard's favorite themes--the interior and exterior landscapes of American society, the death or betrayal of the American dream, the search for comfortable roots-- "Simpatico" takes a good deal of time to find its cadence, leading the audience to wonder when some sense will be made of its characters' feelings of alienation. Flashing back frequently to the more carefree, optimistic days of his protagonists, Warchus unveils a story of youthful ideals and limitless dreams, puncturing the illusions of two uninteresting men and one bimbo-ish woman who pulled a scam that didn't quite work out and who are haunted not only by memories but by their current ties to the past.
The movie opens on a shaggy Vinnie (Nick Nolte) who has been leading a low-profile life in Cucamonga, California, having been involved in a shady deal with his friend, Carter (Jeff Bridges)--who is now a multimillionaire horse breeder in Kentucky. In a more carefree time they had been involved in a racing scam involving the switching of slow, long-shot horses by fast ones, and in blackmailing the racing commissioner, Simms (Albert Finney), into silence. But there is no honor among these thieves. Carter runs off with Vinnie's wife Rosie (Sharon Stone), Simms takes on a new identity with a new, satisfying career, and Carter is himself blackmailed by Vinnie. When Vinnie decides to come clean and go public with evidence, Carter is drawn into an intricate plot involving a naive supermarket checker, Cecilia (Catherine Keener), who acts as liaison between Vinnie and Simms.
Kimberly Williams, Liam Waite and Shawn Hatosy perform in the roles of the young Rosie, Carter and Vinnie respectively while Sharon Stone is wasted in a thankless role of the unhappy, if fabulously rich, wife of Carter, lounging about her estate like a torpid character out of Tennessee Williams. The most energetic performance comes from Albert Finney, who has made lemonade from lemons by performing in the role of a man who is now intensely involved in a career tracing the bloodlines of horses. Despite decent performances from Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges, who switch roles before our eyes--the one lightening up graphically as he shucks the albatross of his past criminal acts while the other deteriorates into a paranoid scuzz--"Simpatico" barely leaves the starting gate before it falters and bogs down like a Central Park buggy horse pitted against Native Dancer.
Rated R. Running Time: 106 minutes. (C) 2000 Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com
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