A Simple Plan (1998)

So much average

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

hyped garbage

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Becoming interested in movies in the late 90's,I would see a Sky Movies Box Office program that showed trailers to current releases. One of the few that has stayed in my mind is the unsettling trailer for this title. Recently introduced to Sam Rami's superb Evil Dead trilogy by a fellow IMDber,I was pleased to find this much lesser Rami creation airing,which led to me finally finding out how simple the plan could be.View on the film:A less than simple time in pre and post-production, ( Ben Stiller, John Boorman, Mike Nichols and John Dahl were all set to direct at various times,and the original studio going bust)director Sam Rami and cinematographer Alar Kivilo makes all these problems melt with a frosty Neo-Noir atmosphere. Advised on how to film in snow by friends the Coen brothers, Rami and Kivilo make the small town feel mercilessly cold to any attempt the trio make to keep the cash secret,as the overcast sombre skies and mountains of pure snow lights up any drop of blood that the trio spill. Following their first team-up on Darkman, Rami and Kivilo free up their excellent simmering pans across the doubtful faces of the trio with composer Danny Elfman's (who later married co-star Bridget Fonda) slow-burn score igniting at each wrong turn of the plan,that sends shivers down the score, and darting tracking shots following the ravens of death.Adapting his screenplay into a novel whilst long delays took place, (which by chance,is also what John Steinbeck did with The Pearl) this process by writer Scott B. Smith gives the relationships an incredible emotional depth, with Hank's touching protection for Jacob recalling George and Lennie in Of Mice And Men. Pulling a black bag of Neo-Noir trouble out of a plane,Smith brilliantly agitates the trust between the trio with glances and misplaced words to the locals building up intense friction and doubt between the loyal guys. Going against Lou's wishes by telling his wife,Smith makes the bond between Hank and Sarah be one that dips into Femme Fatale waters, via Sarah's influence guiding Hank to be the dominant one of the trio, but also rooting in him questions over the reliability of his friends,until a poetic Noir ending where Hank burns Sarah's influence away.Mistrusting Hank from the moment they pull out the cash, Brent Briscoe gives an excellent performance as Lou,whose short-fuse Briscoe uses to keep the other guys on edge over fear of a deadly outburst. Uncomfortable even touching the money,Bill Paxton gives a great performance as Hank,with Paxton bringing timidness in Hank's interactions with Bridget Fonda's thoughtful, ambitious Sarah, and a brittle loyalty to Lou and Jacob that Paxton uses to dig Hank into becoming a Noir loner. Fighting to hold the friendships together, Billy Bob Thornton gives an outstanding performance as Jacob,whose sincere, simplistic view on how they can handle the cash Thornton holds to remain firm,even as the plan turns out to be less than simple.

Not a comedy.The media are filled with a successful multi-million dollar hostage ransom. A light airplane carrying four and a half million dollars of ransom crashes in a remote snow-covered forest in the northern Midwest. The pilot is killed. Three local friends -- the clever and educated Bill Paxton, the nice but slightly deranged Billy Bob Thornton, and the good-natured but capricious Brent Briscoe -- watch the plane disappear into the snow-laden trees. Investigating, they take note of the fact that the pilot is dead, the airplane half buried, and the suitcase with the illegal ransom would provide each of the three with, let's see, roughly one and a third million dollars apiece. That's enough for Paxton to get the hell out of Prairie Hell, enough for his brother Billy Bob, to buy back the old family homestead and start farming again, and the hard-drinking Briscoe to -- well, who knows? Suitcase in hand, the three discuss what to do with the money. Of course they should turn it over to Carl, the local sheriff. And suppose the ransomers come looking for it. But then, that's a lot of money and maybe they should keep it. Of course these paper paupers can't spend any of it in Northwoodsville for obvious reasons. Maybe Paxton, the most mentally intact of the three, should take the fortune, bury it in his back yard for a while, then exhume it when things quiet down. The idea seems sound. And it's all so simple, except that the word, as used in the title, is ironic because it's not so simple at all.I won't describe in any detail how things begin to go wrong. (Some -- a fake FBI agent -- are implausible.) Paxton brings the money home to his wife, Fonda, who doesn't believe a word of his story until Paxton dumps four million in hundred-dollar bills all over the kitchen table. Aghast, she says return it at once. But upon thinking things over, as any normal person would, she begins to sensibly question and fill in some gaps in the simple plan. Not exactly Lady MacBeth but more like an Executive Secretary with a name like Marybelle MacBeth.You have to love the way some of the dialog is written. The law officer, Carl, has heard reports of a failing airplane and is politely asking people about it. Everyone in Pinestown knows Carl and he knows everyone else, a friendly guy who's a little hard to read. He visits Paxton's house and Paxton asks, "Hi, Carl, aren't you out chasing criminals?" "Maybe," says Carl affably. There are scenes, little gems, sprinkled along the narrative. In one incident, Paxton is carrying a recorder and trying to get Briscoe to confess to killing an innocent bystander by pouring a lot of liquor into Briscoe's glass while only sipping at his own. Thornton, aware, somewhere in the crepuscular recesses of his brain, of what's up but unwilling to unmask his brother, begins taunting Paxton for only pretending to drink. It's the kind of crabwise way we might interfere with another's plans while not being entirely committed to the interference. In any case, it works and leads to homicide.I won't go on about the plot. The dialog, as I've said, is well above average. We can feel pity for the dumb Thornton as he revels tearily in the fantasy of finding a wife, reestablishing the defunct family farm, with Paxton running the farm next door and coming over to visit so the two families can hug each other and the brothers can rock on the front porch, drinking and watching the moon. There are more sad than hopeful moments.There are deaths too, and realistically rendered though with no relish whatever. Nobody's head is blown off. It's a movie made for a mature audience.

One of Sam Raimi's better films, "A Simple Plan" finds a group of Midwesterners stumbling upon a Pandora's box of ransom money out in the woods. Like John Huston's "Treasure of The Sierra Madre", or Erich von Stroheim's "Greed", the greed of our covetous heroes quickly mounts. They concoct increasingly elaborate plans to keep the found money, but these plans degenerate into several farcical murders.At its best, "A Simple Plan" watches as ordinary, happy families fall prey to temptation. At its worst, the film eschews plausible tragedy for incredulous noir violence. The film stars a fine Bill Paxton and an overacting Billy Bob Thornton. With its wintry locales and vein of black humour, the film has been compared to the Coen Brothers' "Fargo". The Coens wrote and edited a number of Raimi's own early features.7.9/10 – See "The Drop" and "The Lookout".

Maverick Filmmaker Sam Raimi has always impressed me, be it his work in the Spider Man series, Darkman or even The Evil Dead, his work has found its place. And with 'A Simple Plan', Raimi triumphs with A Razor-Sharp Thriller, that also offers superior performances by its lead cast.'A Simple Plan' Synopsis: When three blue collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash they make a plan to keep their find from the authorities but find complications & mistrust weaving its way into their plan.'A Simple Plan' deals with greed, ambition & above-all The American Dream. The characters in here, aren't bad people. Like the film's caption accurately states: Sometimes Good People Do Evil Things. The characters aren't lovable, but they aren't the kind you'd hate either. There is a motivation & sadness attached to them, which makes them do bad things. But then again, A Crime is A Crime.Based on the novel of the same name by Scott Smith, The Screenplay, also Written by Smith himself, is engrossing. Its a realistic thriller, but the thrills in here, are for real. Raimi's Direction is crisp. His handling of this thriller, deserves distinction marks. Cinematography & Editing are perfect. Performance-Wise: Billy Bob Thornton takes the lead with a sterling performance. Bill Paxton is remarkably credible. Bridget Fonda is natural to the core. Brent Briscoe is impressive, as well.On the whole, 'A Simple Plan' is, most definitely, worth a watch.