A SIMPLE PLAN by DeWyNGaLe Rating: B+
Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda star as three people caught up in murder, stealing, and lies in the new thriller A Simple Plan. The hype for this movie has been big, even back in November when it was originally supposed to be released. The all star cast is what will get most crowds to flock to see this drama/thriller.
Bill Paxton plays Hank, a happy guy with a wife, nice job, and a nice house. Bridget Fonda plays his wife, Sarah. Sarah is pregnant, and the two must raise money for the baby. Hank and his brother Jacob, played by Billy Bob Thornton, along with a friend Lou, played by Brent Briscoe are all out in the woods when they discover a bag of money in a plane. The plan is simple. Hank will keep the money until the plane is found, and when it is, and if no one is looking for the money, the three will split the 4.4 million dollars contained in the bag. Hank must confront Sarah about what he has found, and the plan the three men have made. The money is taken care of by Hank throughout the movie, while other events take place leading to the conclusion of the long story. Hank has to be especially careful considering he has the money in his home. He is even good friends with some police officers, which make his chance of getting caught even higher.
A Simple Plan consists of a problem that many films have. The characters are too ignorant to take the money to the police right away, and as you have probably guessed, many problems occur along the way. The film is much like I Know What You Did Last Summer, only the three men are the bad guys. I almost found myself rooting for the police in this one. The characters besides Jacob and Sarah are unlikable and underdeveloped.
There are two key points that made A Simple Plan successful. Although the characters were unlikable, the performances were great. The actors got you to feel how you were supposed to about their roles. The other thing that makes A Simple Plan a winner is that the story is presented to the audience in a creepy, original way. The music and setting are what brought out the overall presentation. I thought the isolated woods were a great place to hold a tense thriller like this one.
A Simple Plan keeps a tense pace, but it slows down in many scenes throughout the movie. Some of the unnecessary scenes could have been cut to maintain the interest of the audience. Bridget Fonda and Billy Bob Thornton give stand out performances, stealing the scenes that they take part in. Bill Paxton plays the same character that he does in much of his movie roles, but still gives a satisfying performance. The actors in A Simple Plan put you in the character's shoes. They let you feel the horror that they were growing through.
The Bottom Line- The makers of A Simple Plan had a simple idea, but took it all the way.
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