Simpatico

Portland Oregonian Diana Abu-Jaber

Possesses the open-ended, continual off-kilterness of Shepard theater.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Demands full attention, if only for the pleasure of watching great actors mine Shepard's harsh, beautiful language for all it's worth.

TNT RoughCut Spencer H. Abbott

Many may find the ultimate drive behind the main characters (especially Nolte's) to be a misguided, feeble and disappointing payoff at best.

Variety Dennis Harvey

An unbeatable cast lends satisfying emotional texture.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This stylized tale of guilt and retribution is a surprisingly sleek and affecting drama.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A somewhat bewildering and unsatisfying film that nevertheless contains more inspired moments and brilliant scenes than many movies we call successes.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Warchus seems as at ease with the complexity of the style as he is with directing actors.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

While it's entertaining, it's not as persuasive as it needs to be to succeed fully.

Time Richard Schickel

Curiously, if fitfully, intriguing.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Star-packed fiasco.

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

Proves only intermittently engaging as its twisted plot loses energy and becomes confusing in the latter half.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Far from being a typical Hollywood desecration of a difficult play, it stays true to the work's quirky, renegade spirit.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

It's an awkward jumble whose only value is as a forum for movie junkies to track the progress of half-a-dozen screen careers at once.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

A confounding and unsatisfying film.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

As has been the case with most of Shepard's plays, transfer to the movies spells doom.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A promise unfulfilled.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A non-starter.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Feels static and constricted, its intensity dulled by overreliance on dialogue.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A long slog through perplexities and complexities.

Mr. Showbiz Richard T. Jameson

The switch of medium hasn't reinvigorated the soil or resulted in a film with any compelling reason for being.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

A decked-out mediocrity with a high-octane cast.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Stumbling adaptation of a Sam Shepard play about men, horses, chance, and lies.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Atmosphere goes only so far in a story where the major characters fade from memory.

Film.com Gemma Files

Tired, overcomplicated mix of macho bullshit.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

An extravagant waste of resources.