A Simple Plan

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Ola G Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton) and his pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) live in rural Wright County, Minnesota. One of the town's few college graduates, Hank works as a bookkeeper at a feed mill, while Sarah is a librarian. Hank, his dim-witted older brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and their friend Lou Chambers, chase a fox into the woods and stumble upon a crashed airplane. Hank decides to look inside, where he discovers a dead man and a bag containing $4.4 million in $100 bills. He suggests turning the money in, but Lou and Jacob persuade him not to. Hank then proposes that he keep the money safe at his house until spring thaw when the snow will melt and the plane will be found. At that point, if missing money isn't raised, they will divide their shares and move away. Sheriff Carl Jenkins coincidentally drives by and stops amiably to chat. Hank sticks to the agreed script, but Jacob blurts something about a plane. Carl tries to pursue it, but just gets double-talk. After Carl leaves, the three men make a pact to keep the money a secret, but Hank immediately breaks it with Sarah. She suggests that Hank return a small portion of the money to the plane to avoid suspicion when is found. Hank takes Jacob along. Elderly farmer Dwight Stephanson happens by on snowmobile. Jacob, thinking that their cover is blown, bludgeons Dwight. Before they can dispose of the body Dwight comes to, only to be suffocated by Hank. The brothers then drive the snowmobile and body off a bridge to make it appear an accident. Sarah does research and learns that the money was a ransom for a kidnapped heiress abducted by two brothers. The following night, Lou drunkenly demands his portion of the money from Hank. He's learned from Jacob about Dwight's murder, and threatens to go to the authorities when Hank refuses... Rotten Tomatoes consensus calls the film "A riveting crime thriller full of emotional tension." Reviewing the film during the Toronto International Film Festival, Glen Lovell of Variety compared it to Fargo (1996), writing, "The key differences are in emphasis and tone: Fargo is deadpan noir; A Simple Plan...is a more robust Midwestern Gothic that owes as much to Poe as Chandler." In an "early review" of the film prior to its limited release, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film a "Two Thumbs Up" rating on their syndicated television program Siskel and Ebert at the Movies. In a later episode, Ebert ranked A Simple Plan at number four on his list of the "Best Films of 1998". Siskel, writing for the Chicago Tribune, said that the film was "an exceedingly well-directed genre picture by [Raimi] ... [who] does an excellent job of presaging the lethal violence that follows. From his very first images we know that bodies are going to start to pile up." Ebert also named Bill Paxton as his suggested pick for the Best Actor nomination at the 1999 Academy Awards. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly described the film as being "lean, elegant, and emotionally complex—a marvel of backwoods classicism." Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it a "quietly devastating thriller directed by [Raimi] ... who makes a flawless segue into mainstream storytelling." Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "for Raimi, whose mastery of visual effects has driven all of his previous films, A Simple Plan marks a tremendously successful break from the past. He's drawn lovely, complex performances from Paxton and Thornton and proven that he can work effectively—and movingly—in a minor emotional key." In a negative review, Richard Schickel of Time stated, "There's neither intricacy nor surprise in the narrative, and these dopes are tedious, witless company." Schlomo Schwartzberg of Boxoffice felt that the film "clutters up the story with unnecessary acts of violence and murder, and mainly stays on the surface, offering little more than cheap jolts of melodrama." (Via Wikipedia) "A Simple Plan" is a classic neo-noir crime thriller from Sam Raimi with great acting and a storyline that just becomes worse and worse for the main characters. As many has pointed out there's a kinship to "Fargo", but not overly much if you ask me. The film keeps you in your seat with its twists and turns presenting an ending that is intriguing for sure. And I am a sucker for films set in a snowy landscape... Trivia: A Simple Plan earned multiple awards and nominations, among them two Academy Award nominations, one for Best Supporting Actor (Thornton) and one for Best Adapted Screenplay (Smith). (Via Wikipedia) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/17/24 Full Review Isa B Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton deliver awesome performances in this picture. A Simple Plan is a well written story that became an excellent motion picture. I definitely recommend. 92/100 Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/31/24 Full Review mark g As close to perfect as a film can get. Starts off as a simple plan, but things just spiral down from there, deeper and deeper. And what great casting! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/10/24 Full Review Andrew R There's really nothing wrong with this movie except Bill Paxton's performance. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/19/24 Full Review Blu B All Time Classic. You would never think watching this that Sam Raimi directed this. There is only very subtle queues here and there it's him. It's a shame he didn't do more things like this. This is masterfully edited, phenominally acted, and gorgously shot with really camerawork. The setting is very memorable. The premise is super simple but grows into an incredibly complex Coen Brothers Heist Thriller Noir hybrid. Billy Bob Thorton is amazing in this and is the best thing in it and that's saying a lot. The music is really good also. It's paced very well but it does feel like 2 hours as it moves at a very slow burn pace. However there is always something keeping your interest and it's never boring or too complex to follow. It's a tale about what money and greed can do to normal people. This does require a bit of patience as thrills are sparse in this but the drama, characters, and story more than make up for it. Everyone should give this a try once. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/27/24 Full Review Vid R Oscar snubed movie. Deserves best picture and best director nom. But it is still great drama Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/22/24 Full Review Read all reviews

A Simple Plan

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