Simpatico

Simpatico is a horse and this is the story of a racing scam - or rather, its long-term repercussions. Star-studded and beautifully shot in Kentucky and California, English theatre director, Matthew Warchus, has opened Sam Shepard's play so wide that holes appear in the plot.

The first half has Nick Nolte doing his Down And Out In Beverly Hills role, except it's not Beverly Hills, but Cucamonga, and Jeff Bridges repeating his ruthless man of business role, which he does so well.

When they were likely lads, called Vinnie and Lyle, they hung out with Rosie, who grew up to become Sharon Stone. Naturally, both were in love with her.

The scam involved switching horses, betting high on "outsiders" and cashing in big time. It also involved blackmailing the race track commissioner (Albert Finney), responsible for checking irregularities, by filming him in uncompromising positions with a call girl (Rosie in a wig).

Twenty years later, Lyle is a well-respected racehorse breeder worth millions and Rosie is his wife. She drinks out of boredom and can't be bothered to get up in the morning. Vinnie lives in squalour and carries a whisky bottle for comfort. He hasn't combed his hair for weeks.

The film's second half loses its grip. By stretching the text, Warchus and co-scriptwriter David Nicholls revert to flashbacks and home movie inserts, involving younger actors, to explain the relationship between a paranoid alcoholic, a high achiever and a lush.

Stone arrives late and steals the show. Nolte is the least convincing, mainly because of his perfect teeth. Bridges doesn't have to try terribly hard to be watchable, and so doesn't.

With the exception of Stone, something of a loose cannon at this stage of her career, much to her credit, the casting feels comfortably safe. Somewhere in the midst of this turmoil, Shepard's play lies wounded, not dead.