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 a fox and hits a tree, with his dog running off after the animal.  While searching for his dog the three discover a crashed airplane that has a bag full of money inside.  4.4 million dollars to be exact.  Hank wants to alert the authorities but the other two want to keep the cash.  Hank eventually decides to help them but insists on holding it until spring to see if anyone comes looking for it.

Despite warning Lou not to tell his wife (Becky Ann Baker) about the money Hank proceeds to do just that to his pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) who immediately starts giving Hank advice on how to help cover up the fact they took the cash.  The first task is to put some back so people won't ask questions, but that move leads to the death of a local farmer (Tom Carey).  Soon Lou is confronting Hank, demanding his share, while Sarah and Hank try to think of ways of making sure no one talks.  Meanwhile, an Agent Baxter (Gary Cole) from the FBI shows up in town in search of the plane. 

There are a number of complications in the novel - the murder of a convenience store clerk, a real estate scam that takes most of Hank and Sarah's money - that thankfully are absent from this movie.  Instead, Raimi sticks to the point, focusing on the dynamic between Hank and Sarah and Hank and Jacob, which are much more important than the tried-and-true story about a deal between thieves going wrong.  Of course, everything does go wrong, which it has to so the plot can get moving, but the money is the catalyst rather than the end-all-be-all.  

The surprising thing about this movie is how it feels more like a Coen Brothers movie than a Sam Raimi film.  They are friends and he did write the script to The Hudsucker Proxy from a few years before, and A Simple Plan does have some of the same feel as Fargo, just without the quirky Coen sense of humor.  However, this follows The Quick and the Dead, a b-movie western which still had Raimi's trademark directing style of frenetic camera movements, strange angles and other tricks.   This is completely different, with steady long shots that take advantage of the wintery Minnesota setting.  It feels like he made a solid decision to go in a more traditional direction in an effort to be taken seriously.

It worked.  Though not a major blockbuster hit A Simple Plan was appreciated by both fans and critics alike.  It resulted in Academy Award nominations for both Smith and Billy Bob Thornton and was successful enough to fund Raimi's own vanity project, For the Love of the Game, which came out the following year.  Still, if there was a turning point in his career, it was with this movie.  While some of the old Raimi would occasionally pop up every now and then, most noticeably in Drag Me to Hell, this seemed to mark the point at which he matured. 

Beyond the direction Paxton and Thornton have two of their best roles and, unlike the book, the movie knows how to stick the ending without going overboard.  It's not the most surprising or shocking conclusion, but it is a fitting one that ties the whole movie together.  I also give credit to Bridget Fonda in one of her last major roles before retiring, as Sarah was definitely written with Lady Macbeth in mind.  Even without his horror fanbase this would have sealed Raimi's reputation as one of the best directors of the 20th century.

A Simple Plan (1998)
Time: 121 minutes
Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe 
Director: Sam Raimi

 

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