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Showing
in: Circuit Empire
Date: August
25, 2000
Synopsis:
At first glance, Lyle Carter (Jeff Bridges) seems
to have it all. A handsome millionaire with a beautiful
wife and a sprawling estate in Lexington, Kentucky, Carter
has built his empire or breeding and training
thoroughbreds.
He is in the process of selling Simpatico, a Triple Crown.
winner, when the story begins.
In the midst of negotiating the sale of his prize
stallion, Carter receives a collect call from Vinnie (Nick
Nolte), once a good friend, now a deluded
barfly. Vinnie is desperate to see Carter and implies that
if he doesn't come to Los Angeles right away, then
damaging information about a past indiscretion
may come to light. Fearing the worst, Carter makes his way
to California.
When Carter arrives in Los Angeles, he finds Vinnie
destitute and alone, ruminating about the past. Vinnie
pleads with Carter to come clean - to confess the racing
scam that the two of them and Vinnie's then-girlfriend
Rosie (Sharon Stone) almost pulled off 20 years ago. Their
scam - switching slow horses for fast ones and betting the
high odds - seemed foolproof, until racing it was
discovered by Commissioner Simms (Albert Finney).
Desperate
to keep Simms quiet, the three hatched a plan that they
would soon regret, demolishing their friendship and
ruining Simms' career in the process.
Now, 20 years later, Vinnie wants to make amends.
When Carter refuses to go along, Vinnie tricks him out of
his rental car, his plane ticket and his identification
and vows to make things right with Simms. Vinnie discovers
that Simms is now living in Kentucky under an assumed
name. Bound by the
circumstances of their past, the two former friends
virtually swap identities as the seemingly successful
Carter unravels into a man haunted by his memories,
and Vinnie goes to Kentucky to confront his demons face to
face.
Desperate, Carter enlists Vinnie's only friend,
Cecilia (Catherine Keener), to fly to Kentucky, find Simms
and counter Vinnie's damaging revelation with a
considerable amount of cash. Cecilia finds Simms, but
discovers that he wants nothing to do with Vinnie's
confession or, for that matter, Carter's bribery. Still
searching for redemption, Vinnie moves on to confront
Rosie, the third and most fragile of the ill-fated trio.
When he pays Rosie a visit at the mansion
she now shares with Carter, Vinnie sets in motion a series
of events that finally brings this game of high-stakes
deception to its dramatic climax.
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