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A Simple Plan is a homespun noir, a film about the monsters that dwell within ordinary people when expectations outstrip reality.
It focuses on the slow, gut-wrenching realization that you don’t really know the people closest to you, and the horrifying idea that even the deepest bonds of familial love can be severed by a simple twist of fate.
From that description one would be forgiven for thinking this came from the Coen Brothers, but A Simple Plan is the work of their frequent collaborator and friend Sam Raimi in a deliberate attempt to show both his range as a director and his control of the medium.
Set in rural Minnesota, A Simple Plan is the story of Hank (Bill Paxton), an accountant who stumbles across a downed plane in the woods with his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thorton) and Jacob’s friend, Lou (Brent Briscoe).
Upon investigating the plane the three men find a bag with over four million dollars in it, and Hank convinces the other two men to let him sit on the money until the spring thaw, when the plane will be discovered. Hank, of course, instantly shares the news with his pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) who initially seems reluctant but soon suggests that the men return to the plane and return some of the money, so that no one suspects that they’ve taken anything.
Of course, this plan immediately goes awry and soon friends and family are at one another’s throats for their share, and their situation is only made more dire when an FBI Agent Neil Baxter (Gary Cole) who is in town looking for the plane.
As I alluded to earlier, A Simple Plan was a conscious attempt by director Sam Raimi to play against type. Known for the frenetic energy and wicked humor of films like Evil Dead 2 and Darkman, this slow-burn literary thriller would seem to be out of his wheelhouse but it is a literal masterclass in the development of tension over three acts. Miscommunications lead to recriminations which lead to cold blooded murder as our main characters Hank and Sarah reveal themselves to be monsters all along.
This is the central thematic point that sets A Simple Plan apart from so many films with a similar structure. The main characters in this film do not change into ruthless people as the fiascos mount, instead they overhear themselves (to borrow Bloom’s language regarding Shakespeare) finding hidden reservoirs of malice, while still convincing themselves they’re good people who just happen to be trapped in bad circumstances.
Raimi’s command of pacing through editing and use of symbolism really add to the film’s power, but what really sells the proceedings are the amazing performances from top to bottom from the relatively small ensemble cast. Bill Paxton hits just the right notes to keep him sympathetic as long as possible as he is seduced by the promise of a new life. Bridget Fonda is terrifying as a kind of Lady MacBeth who constantly pushes her husband to greater and greater crimes so she doesn’t have to work at the local library anymore.
The key role though is Billy Bob Thorton as Jacob. Thornton plays Jacob as a well meaning simpleton, one who has been taken advantage of by his reprobate friends like Lou for his whole life, and who only wants what’s his. A Simple Plan uncovers the vice in the middle class people, but reveals a deep understanding of the human capacity for deceit and violence in Jacob that tragically, he cannot bear to live with. It is a devastating performance– one full of detail and replete with meaning.
Extras are plentiful; includes new 4K print, audio commentaries, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and trailer.
A Simple Plan is a perfect double feature with the Coen Brothers’ Minnesota noir, Fargo. Both are stories of how fragile human commitment is when people get desperate, but this film I think strikes even deeper than the Coens’ 1995 classic. Whereas the Coens see a stability in genuine human affection, and think ultimately the wounds in a community can be healed if enough skill is brought to bear upon the issue, A Simple Plan offers no such relief. It is one of the greatest neo-noir films ever made.
Highest Recommendation.


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