Review of Simpatico

Introduction

The opening scene has Nick Nolte (Vinnie) as an alcoholic and is visibly shaking talking to Jeff Bridges (Carter) about some trouble that he is in. Carter is well off after some racing scam from years ago, and is currently trying to sell a stud horse which is the movie title. Nolte is playing much the same character as he was in "Down And Out In L.A." only without the humour! Vinnie has had some hold over Carter from the past because he has been paying his way for him. The movie has many flashbacks relating to what went on within each character`s past and helps the story to unfold.

Video

1.85:1 Anamorphic and Picture quality was initially excellent with a clean and clear transfer until some way into the movie you can notice a slight `softness` to the picture. According to the DVD player information it was slightly low on picture bit rate, which would be the cause of the slight lack of resolution. But thankfully no dropouts. The black colours are bold and yet even the night scenes were clearly detailed enough to see what`s going on. The movie was nicely framed and boasted some pleasant scenery both night and day, including the likes of the party at Carter`s home.

Audio

Unfortunately although the sound including the diaglogue was crisp and clear, it was only in 2.0 Stereo but mistakenly I played it in Dolby Pro logic which I found was an improvement on the standard track. According to the credits at the end of the movie it was originally in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS which was an opportunity wasted for the DVD. There was a fine overall ambience throughout the movie but few effects you could locate acurately due to the simple mix overall, also inderspersed with a typical midwest country style of music. One quirk about the country music being played, was Britain`s Petula Clark singing "The Games People Play", country style.

Features

The standard menu consists of a simple looking static background with a partial country tune and horse racing commentary heard over it. It features pictures of the main stars and all available options are at the bottom. A trailer and a 5 and half minute featurette consisting of a short synopsis of the movie and making of are all that is included. It wouldn`t be a bad idea to watch this before the movie to give an outline to the plot itself as it can become complex. Shame there wasn`t even any bios or production notes in the features list which is usually basic on a lot of DVDs.

Conclusion

This story has to be seen twice really to get a better insight of the plot details, which might have eluded you the first time around. Watch out for a particular scene including a fine piece of "equine" acting! Apart from the acting of the four main characters of the cast, it was also pleasing to see unknown actors playing the characters in the flashback scenes. Finally it was unusual to see Sharon looking a little rough! An interesting little thriller to watch.