The Simian Line

Name: The Simian Line
Director: Linda Yellen
Released: 2001

Linda Yellen

2001

Synopsis

The Simian Line is an American improvisational film, released in 2001. When Katharine throws a party on Halloween, a psychic called Arnita predicts that one of the three couples present at the party will break up by the end of the year. The guests don't take her seriously. Arnita doesn't tell them that she can see a fourth couple at the party, the long dead Mae and Edward. As days go by, Katharine grows increasingly jealous of her lover Rick, and his flirting with her neighbor Sandra. Sandra is married to Paul (Jamey Sheridan). Marta and Billy are rock musicians who live in the same building as Katharine.

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Cast

Recommandations

80
Variety
Though picture is at times undermined by a lack of unifying perspective, its glimmers of greatness are a testament to the talent involved.
70
Los Angeles Times
These formidable actresses [Redgrave and Daly], abetted by a persuasive Connick, and by Hurt as the most genteel and benevolent of ghosts, set a high standard for a splendid ensemble cast.
60
L.A. Weekly
The interactions between the realms of the magical and the everyday are carried off with an easygoing charm.
50
TV Guide Magazine
Surprisingly, some of the best moments come from supermodel Crawford and singer Connick, two acting tyros not generally known for their dramatic skills.
50
New York Daily News
The acting runs the gamut, with Daly and Redgrave at the top and a few characters looking as if they wandered onto the wrong movie set.
50
Film Threat
Given how much Yellen does right, it's all the more shameful that she so spectacularly sinks her film in the foot with one hugely questionable "creative" decision: adding a pair of ghosts into the mix.
50
New York Post
One of those exercises in romantic whimsy that misses its mark: It's alternately sappy and uncomfortably harsh.
50
Village Voice
The film tries hard to avoid cliché but doesn't get very far.