A Simple Twist of Fate (1994)

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Steve Martin is always pretty good, but the story is just so predictable, as is the cutsie musical scene and overall cheesiness... I do like that there's nothing really bad in the movie... It's something safe to let a young teenager watch, and a teenage girl who hasn't already seen this story rehashed in a thousand different movies, would probably appreciate it more than myself... No real symbolism or propaganda to speak of in this movie, so that's good... If you're wondering why I would make such a comment, checkout some of my other reviews where i break down the symbolism and propaganda I find in many of today's most popular movies... I like the older movies like this because more often than not, there's not much in the way of symbolism or propaganda, what you see is what you get... It's not like that today, it seems like half the movies they make these days are actually laden with demoralizing mind-tricks... Well, that's 10+ lines... God bless y'all...

When facing losing your child in the court system, a parent suffers a roller-coaster of emotions.Here, two wannabe fathers are fighting for their parental rights to a daughter.One father had been highly regarded in the community and had unbounded political ambitions.The other father was a town drunk and miser who lived on the land of the other father.The movie is suspenseful at times, dark at times, light at times, and has a great ending.

This film is so understated and underrated as to be in danger of completely disappearing from the radar screen. For Steve Martin to be in a non-Jerk type roll makes seeing this movie next to impossible for a great number of people. No, he's not acting weird. No, he doesn't have an arrow on his head. No, he isn't going for the laugh. This is Mr. Martin at his acting best. If you were impressed by his recent turn in 'Shopgirl' the do yourself a favor and go out of your way to find a copy of this movie. Are there times when humor finds its way into this movie? Oh yeah but for the most part there is nothing but good solid storytelling with excellent casting and an excellent script. See this movie if you want to see a wonderful character study acted out by a superb cast.

Note: This doesn't really contain spoilers, but hey, one slip of the mouse could blacklist me.I just finished watching the outstanding Shopgirl and I couldn't help but think of this film. I've probably seen it around ten times. Only two or three times at home, but in high school I swear teachers showed it once or twice a year to kill some time. It didn't matter if we were reading Silas Marner or not. It has never gotten old.People seem to go into this movie expecting a comedy, but it's really not. It's a haunting and beautiful movie filled with imagery that I can still see in my head, even though I haven't seen the movie in a couple of years. I assume when this came out, it was largely ignored because it had the look and conventions of other lesser movies of the time. Besides, who would want to see a drama from Steve Martin? Now that it's years removed from the climate it was released, it can truly be appreciated for what it is. A true gem.