A Simple Plan (1998)
There are rare times when a movie is better than the book. So rare that I am going to be one of the minority on this as there are quite a few people who love this 1993 by Scott B. Smith. I specifically got it because I liked Sam Raimi's film so much, which Smith also wrote the screenplay for. Unfortunately, where the movie gives a realistic portrayal of how greed can tear apart families as well as how thin the veneer of respectability is the novel tried to do the same but put the protagonists in unbelievable situations and gave them ridiculous plot armor. It is hard to believe they were written by the same person. Because of the book I was nervous about seeing the movie again, hoping that somehow I didn't misremember this being one of Raimi's best films. Hank (Bill Paxton) and his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) drive out to visit their father's grave with Jacob's friend Lou (Brent Briscoe) on New Year's Eve. On the way back Jacob swerves to avoid ...