A Simple Plan (1998) 3 1/2 stars out of 4
A Simple Plan is not a simple movie to watch.
It's a film that, on its surface, shows the depths to which greed drives some people. It is a story of moral corruption and murder.
Three men - Hank, his younger brother, Jacob, and Jacob's friend, Lou - find a plane that has crashed deep in the woods. In the wreckage they discover the body of the pilot plus a bag containing $4.4 million.
Realizing the money must be either stolen or drug money, they decide to hide it until spring, then divide it three ways.
Of course, from the outset, everything goes awry. First, an innocent farmer is accidentally killed when Jacob tries to stop him from entering the woods. From that point, events escalate, and the body count rises.
But the question you are left to answer is: Were these good people to begin with who were corrupted by the discovery of the money? Or, were they morally weak and was the discovery the catalyst that unleashed their baser instincts?
Hank (Bill Paxton) seems to be a decent guy. He has a boring job at the feed store, and a loving, pregnant wife (Bridget Fonda) at home. Hank is the practical individual. He's the one who stashes the money and devises the plan to keep it hidden until after the snows melt.
All his level-headedness, however, cannot halt the freight train of disaster that unfolds once he conceals the money.
The unemployed Lou (Brent Briscoe) is a big-mouth, drunken lout who is eager to get his share of the loot immediately.
The moral core of the film is anchored by Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton). Also unemployed, Jacob is a bit dim-witted, usually going along with whoever devised the latest plan.
Jacob, though, wants to use his share of the money to buy back and restore the family's farm, lost after their parents' death.
One lie builds upon another as the trio find it more and more difficult to contain their secret.
Hank loses his moral compass, rationalizing the violence that ensues.
One problem with the film, adapted by Scott B. Smith from his novel, is the character of Sarah, Hank's wife.
Her transformation from a decent woman appalled by her husband's actions into a greedy, grasping harridan is too sudden and inexplicable.
Director Sam Raimi, best known for his horror outings such as The Evil Dead, Army of Darkness and Darkman, uses the cold and isolation of the area to dominate the film. You feel the breath of the characters as they contrive their misbegotten plans and watch in horror as those dreams slowly disintegrate.
A Simple Plan is a disturbing movie. The characters gain your sympathy while they simultaneously appall you. A Simple Plan is a film that demonstrates how weak the moral fiber can be when it is severely tested.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at cbloom@iquest.net
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