(out of ****)
_A_Simple_Plan_ (R) **** _Very_Bad_Things_ (R) **** _A_Simple_Plan_ and _Very_Bad_Things_ are films of two opposing genres--drama and comedy--but both are actually so similar that their titles could very well be interchangeable. Both are about botched secret schemes that lead to downward spirals of transgression; both are bound to leave audiences unsettled--and both are among the most memorable films of the year. Although his filmmaking career has spanned twenty years, Sam Raimi has always remained on the fringes of Hollywood, scoring no big box office hits but amassing a fiercely devoted cult following and with his trademark brand of dark humor (more often than not tinged with gore) and wildly kinetic camera work. More than a few Raimi cultists weaned on the likes of his _Evil_Dead_ trilogy will undoubtedly cry "sellout" after seeing _A_Simple_Plan_, which neither looks nor feels like a traditional Raimi film. Instead, it looks and feels like a simply "traditional" film: no flashy camera work, no excessive violence, no macabre humor. Thematically, on the other hand, this adaptation of Scott B. Smith's bestselling novel is exactly what one would expect from the auteur. Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton play Midwestern brothers Hank and Jacob Mitchell, who, with friend Lou (Brent Briscoe), discover a downed plane containing a dead body and a bag full of money--$4.4 million, to be exact. Their plan, as the title states, is simple: split the money between them, but only after the plane is discovered and it is determined that the authorities are not tracing the cash. As they say, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," and that's exactly what happens. As jealousy, greed, and suspicion enter the picture, a tense and ever-twisting turn of events follows, in which the most innocent characters reveal their more sinister tendencies--and vice versa. This theme of the ever-shifting tides of evil within people is a perfect fit for the dark sensibilities of Raimi, and he made a wise decision in keeping his showy visual tendencies in check. Any of Raimi's usual visual theatrics would have detracted from Smith's tightly-wound script, and his restrained approach intensifies the suspense of the story. Adding to the complexity and power of the story are the actors, whose multidimensional performances create complex characters the audience sometimes hates yet maintains a certain empathy for. Thornton is likely to receive the most attention for his heartwrenching turn as the sad sack Jacob, who may be slow-witted but is nobody's fool. Equally as impressive though certain to be overlooked in Thornton's shadow is Paxton's subtle, slow burn as the often-conflicted Hank. Bridget Fonda's role as Hank's wife Sarah seems simple at the start, but as the character gradually takes on sharper edges, so does Fonda's performance. The film's richness of character lends its conclusion a poignant and haunting impact. As badly as the characters in _A_Simple_Plan_ behave, nothing they do comes off quite as reprehensible as the deeds perpetrated by the characters inhabiting _Very_Bad_Things_, the audacious writing/directing debut of actor Peter Berg. Stuffed with scenes of stylishly shot splatter, this film is as violent as any that has been released as this or any year--and it's all played for _laughs_ (coincidentally, much like Raimi's earlier work). That shameless, eager-to-shock energy, with a crafty script and a flawless ensemble cast to match, make this beyond-black comedy a very good thing indeed. A few days before his wedding to Laura Garrity (Cameron Diaz), Kyle Fisher (Jon Favreau) heads to Las Vegas for a big bachelor blowout with his buddies: self-improvement-obsessed realtor Robert Boyd (Christian Slater), quiet auto mechanic Charles Moore (Leland Orser), straightlaced family man Adam Berkow (Daniel Stern), and Adam's boorish younger brother Michael (Jeremy Piven). Mix these five men, gallons of booze, pounds of cocaine and marijuana, and a stripper into a hotel room and something bad is bound to happen--and it does. A rather grisly "complication" during sex with Michael leaves the stripper dead, and the ever-cunning Boyd comes up with, yes, a simple plan to correct, as he calls it, the "105-pound problem"--bury her body in the desert. Predictably, this rash decision just leads to more trouble. What isn't so predictable, however, is the severity of the troubling situations Berg puts his characters in. These developments will undoubtedly offend some, but most people would be laughing too hard to be offended. An obvious comparison would be to the Farrelly Brothers' surprise sensation _There's_Something_About_Mary_, but the brands of humor are distinctly different; whereas the Farrellys dabbled in "gross-out" bodily function humor, Berg's violent variety of comedy can best be described as "shock" humor. But however different their specific sensibilities are, the Farrellys and Berg share the same go-for-broke attitude when it comes to generating laughs, going so far as to seem to dare the audience not to laugh. "Shock" gags would not mean anything if they didn't organically emerge from the story, and like _Mary_, the very bad things of the title are firmly rooted in the script. But there's more to Berg's assured writing than his ability to jolt the audience into laughter; there are also some juicy roles, and each cast member tackles their respective job with aplomb. The characters truly take shape, and the actors achieve liftoff, after the stripper incident, when everyone experiences different types of emotional fallout. The fact that Kyle's increasing anxiety can be palpably felt while not exactly seen is a tribute to Favreau's firm grasp of the character, who tries to maintain a veneer of composure throughout. Adam becomes mad with paranoia, leading to some effectively hammy hysterics by Stern. Nicely playing off of him is Piven, whose all-attitude Michael undergoes the most dramatic arc in the film. Slater's often irksome Nicholson-channelling works like a charm for Boyd. As his self-improvement philosophy becomes increasingly, shall we say, dark, Slater's devilish Jack-like grin and swagger could not be more perfect; it's his best performance since _True_Romance_. As the wedding date nears and the tension mounts, the chirpy Laura seems less like herself--or is that _more_?--and Diaz obviously has a blast. Even a relatively peripheral player like Adam's wife Lois (Jeanne Tripplehorn) takes on greater depth as things get more and more horrifying; only Orser's barely-heard Moore remains an enigma, but I believe that was the point. Berg falls a little short at the end; his ultimate resolution doesn't quite live up to the raucous build up, but it closes the film with an appropriately acidic sting. (_A_Simple_Plan_ opens December 4; _Very_Bad_Things_ opens November 25)
Michael Dequina
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