After a botched robbery, rugged ladies' man Bill reunites with his bookish college graduate brother Dennis (Hartley regulars Robert Burke and Bill Sage) to seek out their terrorist father who recently escaped from hospital. When their motorcycle breaks down in the middle of nowhere, the brothers find themselves in the company of the kind Kate (Karen Sillas, What Happened Was...), mysterious Elina (Elina Löwensohn), and short-tempered Martin (Martin Donovan, Trust). Here they learn more about their father and each-other’s attitudes toward women and maybe just start falling in love with the some of the locals as the cops catch up with them.

Hal Hartley’s bookend to the Long Island Trilogy (with Trust and The Unbelievable Truth) shines in his signature stiltedly cool, dryly quirky and warmly tender style. Featuring a cast of trusted friends and fresh faces, Simple Men takes its time exploring its detached talky ensemble, stewing on the past with ennui and ruminating on relationships before interrupting itself with bouts of noise, action and suspense – most famous being the Godardesque dance number set to Sonic Youth’s Cool Thing.