Very disappointing...

Brilliant and touching

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a very strong film, no doubt.You can tell it's an adaptation of a novel because of how well structured it is. Just like all of those Forest Gumps, Shawshanks, Big Fish... there's a quality in the pace of the story that's superior to the more basic and linear development you'll get with mainstream Hollywood films.Anyhow, there is purpose and meaning to the development of the narrative here, and as mentioned in the title, there is a modern fairytale quality to this film that always brings a charm to the silver screen viewing.Steve Martin, Gabriel Byrne, his wife in the film Laura Linney or Catherine O'Hara (Martin's close friend) all do a great job but it really is Alana Austin, the final grownup version of Martin's adopted daughter, Mathilda, who steals the show. She was just 12 during this film and has all the precocious smarts and surprising maturity young girls often have at that early age.Well written, with an interesting philosophical almost existential question at the center of it, realistic and challenging... and just the right marriage of comedy and drama, and one of these films that grows on the viewer, with a real atmosphere and simpleness at its core.Perhaps too sensitive and subtle, hence the relatively low average by the fans.8/10.

This movie is what I like to call a sleeper. The cable descriptions are usually terrible and uninteresting but this a wonderful heartwarming movie about love and family. When I played it for my sister one day she argued that she didn't want to watch it but after it was over she fell in love with the sometimes sad, often times humorous story of a man with nothing left to lose and the baby that saves him! Steve Martin flexes his acting talent showing that he isn't always funny/stupid. And the young actress playing Mathilda at age 10 is amazing and really reminds me of Amy Smart. Even though this movie is a little bit older it still applies to life today and it is highly recommended by me!

I have always enjoyed Steve Martin. It doesn't matter what he's in; I just admire his talent and I've been downright crazy about his humor since I first saw him do that "King Tut" thing back in the 1970s. Here, he tackles a more dramatic role with so much warmth and sincerity, and he even manages to inject some comic moments in his typical style.To know that he also wrote this screenplay is not surprising, as he's a gifted writer, as well. The story in this film is tremendously life-affirming. If nothing else, it illustrates how even the most serious or threatening situation can turn around, just like that, in the blink of an eye. As with M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs," Christians might be thinking of Romans 8:28 when they see this film -- how events, good or bad, are so often intricately orchestrated to a better end that we really can't see coming.My favorite point in the film is when Steve Martin's character, having just been robbed of the fortune he's amassed in gold coins (he stored his cash in these coins rather than in a bank), sees this sweet toddler girl wandering aimlessly into his home as an event that was simply meant to be, as the "gift" he is given because his money has been taken away. His faithful perspective is greatly rewarded.

"A Simple Twist of Fate" is a decent dramatic-comedy, but some good potential was missed.Steve Martin plays a quiet and lonely man who doesn't like people, and who lives for one thing only: His money collection. But one night it is stolen by one of the many Baldwin brothers, who disappears into the night. But new hope for Martin arises when a dead mother's child shows up on the doorstep (or IN the house for that matter) at Martin's; he takes her in after the frozen-to-death mother is shoveled off the driveway with a steamroller (no, no, I'm joking). But later, the town's richest man admits that the girl is his...after she is about twelve and is everything to Martin. Now Martin must fight to keep his adopted daughter. The judge says without money for college, Martin won't be able to keep the girl. So his only hope is to find the money that was stolen from him all those years ago."A Simple Twist of Fate" is a decent film, with a few laughs, but it's about a half hour too long and doesn't contain quite enough laughs. It's pretty sad when Catherine O'Hara generates more laughs in the film than Steve Martin himself.Martin does well, but there is no explanation as to some of his quick character changes. I understand the girl changes his life and turns him from a private person to a social person, but it's not a gradual change: One day he is a man who hides in his cabin all day, the next day he's a regular Joe saying "Hi" to everyone in town. Gabriel Byrne plays the real father of the girl, and he does pretty well (though it's not his most fondly remembered co-star role).Catherine O'Hara, as I said before, delivered more laughs than the hilarious Steve Martin, which makes me wonder if the director wanted to give Martin a new "look" so to speak. Unfortunately, I like the old Martin better.In the end, "A Simple Twist of Fate" is a pretty decent comedy/drama that I watch whenever it comes on TV, but I'd never buy it. Worth seeing once or twice.3/5 stars -John Ulmer