Search - A Simple Twist of Fate on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Movie Release: 1994 DVD Release: 05/06/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 46 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Total Copies: 6 Genres: Drama, Melodrama, Family Drama

Steve Martin produced, wrote, and starred in this modernized adaptation of the George Eliot novel Silas Marner. Martin is miserly small-town hermit Michael McCann, who hoards his wealth in the form of a rare coin collection. When his coins are stolen, McCann is ruined, but then he discovers an abandoned baby girl on his doorstep. Although he doesn't know it, the girl, whom McCann names Mathilda, is the illegitimate daughter of a prominent local politician, John Newland (Gabriel Byrne). Raising Mathilda has a profound effect on McCann, who emerges from his self-imposed exile and becomes an excellent, creative father. Mathilda grows up to be an intelligent, attractive girl, friendly with Newland and his wife (Laura Linney). When the Newlands learn that they cannot have children, John confesses his secret and embarks on a custody battle with McCann to regain guardianship of his daughter. The location of McCann's long-lost coins has a powerful impact on the proceedings, however. A rather dour and downbeat film, A Simple Twist of Fate lacked the charm and whimsy of Martin's earlier literary adaptation, Roxanne, and did not enjoy that film's box office success. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Steve Martin - Michael McCann
Gabriel Byrne - John Newland
Laura Linney - Nancy Newland
Catherine O'Hara - April Simon
Alana Austin - Mathilda McCann, at age 11

Starring Steve Martin, the 1994 family comedy A Simple Twist of Fate comes to DVD from Disney/Buena Vista with a widescreen anamorphic transfer. Dolby Digital Surround Sound is available in English with a Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack in French. Closed captions are accessible but there are no subtitles or special features. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide