A SIMPLE PLAN **** (out of ****) a film review by Richard A. Zwelling
It's very easy to imagine what you might do in a set of extraordinary circumstances that tested your character and morals...just as long as you don't actually have to encounter such circumstances. The everyday, run-of-the-mill, garden variety Joes that are at the center of Sam Raimi's thriller are not so lucky.
As we open A Simple Plan, we descend upon the snow covered grounds of an isolated, rural town in the Midwest. We meet Hank (Bill Paxton), who is just the kind of man you would want for your neighbor. He has a steady job, a beautiful wife (Bridget Fonda), and neighbors and friends who hold him in high regard. We also meet his brother, Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and their close friend, Lou (Brent Briscoe).
From the onset, we see that Hank views Jacob as a burden. Jacob is not completely without intelligence (there are a number of times during the film in which he shows signs of cleverness), but he is slow-minded and often incognizant of what goes on around him. He drinks, he has yet to hold a steady job, and he often makes strange remarks which are either insignificant or unsettling. Despite this, Jacob has a strong love for his brother, and admires his financial and social status.
These people are completely happy with their lives, and would continue to be so, even throughout the rest of their lives...
Then one day, in the woods along the outskirts of town, Hank, Jacob, and Lou stumble upon the remains of a plane wreck with the pilot dead in the front seat. They also find a plain black gym bag. In the bag is $4.4 million in cash. Immediately, we begin to learn more unsettling things about the central characters. Lou, overcome with avarice, attempts to justify their keeping the money. Hank, being the upstanding citizen, vouches for returning the money to whoever owns it. Caught between them is Jacob, and he immediately has trouble grasping the magnitude of the situation.
Lou's voice ends up being the most powerful, and Jacob agrees to keep the money. Hank knows what the right thing to do is, but he is also indecisive, submissive, and weak. He agrees, but only if the money stays with him. He then returns home, and further shows his lack of self-assuredness when he proposes his "hypothetical"situation to his wife, just to vindicate his own decision. She is quick to say that she would return the money, as it is "not right" to take what was not originally theirs. After learning that this hypothetical situation is real, the expression on her face erases all credibility to her claim.
Almost immediately, Hank's wife becomes manipulative and self-centered. She plays off of Hank's indecisiveness and attempts to get him to do things no moral man would ever do. This begins the unraveling of their previously happy existence, and like a cancer, the greed and selfishness spreads throughout the circle of central characters. The consequences are brutal and heart-breaking.
This is a first-rate suspense story that does not rush in unfolding its twists and turns. The development of the story and the characters are both without a hint of contrivance. In fact, the most disturbing thing about A Simple Plan is that it is an almost clinical depiction of how a small outside influence can infect and destroy bonds between the closest of friends and family. Sam Raimi's direction is smooth and engaging, and he effectively maximizes the suspense during the most crucial moments of the film.
All of the acting performances are solid, and Billy Bob Thornton's heart-breaking portrayal of a slow-minded but good-hearted human being is stellar. There were times during his exchanges with Paxton that nearly drove me to tears. His Jacob is caught in a hateful web of betrayal and self-interest, and he is the only one who repeatedly sees that the plan to keep the money is destroying everything good in their lives.
This is why one of the great tragedies of the film stems from his dimwittedness. Due to his intellectual shortcomings, he cannot overcome the voracity with which everyone around him plans for the next step of lies and deceits. He is forced to play along with whoever gains the upper hand at any given moment.
The highlight of the film, however, is its script. Adapted from his novel, Scott Smith carefully considers the consequences of each step along the downward spiral, and the plot twists represent some of the most unsettling I've ever seen. The disturbing nature of the material does not come from overt manipulation, but from an emotional investment the audience cannot help but make. The characters are entirely three-dimensional, and as hard as it may be to believe, they are essentially good people. Seeing well-intentioned, likeable characters stray down the wrong road provides for much more engaging cinema than being fed stereotyped villains who we know will be crooked from the start. The fact that one small incident can bring out the greatest of evils in the nicest of people is a much more unpleasant thought. But it is also much more realistic.
This is not an easy picture to watch. Anyone looking for a standard thriller that acts merely as a diversion should not see this film. For those who are willing to make some cerebral investment and who enjoy cinema that leaves much for pondering afterwards, A Simple Plan is of the highest of rewarding experiences.
========== X-RAMR-ID: 34287 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 848751 X-RT-TitleID: 1084172 X-RT-AuthorID: 7583 X-RT-RatingText: 4/4
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews