A Simple Plan (1998)
A Film Review by Mark O'Hara
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'A Simple Plan' contains that wonderful adjective, a modifier that usually is what is says, simple. But words in our language are often charged with connotations that have other plans.
The opening shots establish the protagonist Hank (Bill Paxton) in the small Wisconsin town where he works as a bookkeeper in a grain mill. Hank's wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda), who shelves books in the local library, is pregnant with their first child. Their love seems pure, their lives innocent, until one evening when Hank's brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) visits. Intending to place a poinsettia on their father's grave - cold weather notwithstanding - the brothers drive into the snowy country. With them in the truck is Jacob's drinking buddy Lou (Brent Briscoe) and Jacob's dog. Before long the trio find themselves in the woods, the dog disappeared, tensions heating up between the unemployed ne'er-do-well Lou and the college boy Hank. What puts a stop to the tension is the discovery of a crashed plane; Hank investigates and and finds a dead pilot and a large duffel full of money. Will they keep it? Give it back? Are there other choices beside these two?
Thus the scene is set for a modern allegory, perfect chances for greed and betrayal and treachery to take over the plot in the same way they do in Chaucer's 'The Pardoner's Tale.' The fate of the money is almost irrelevant; it's like Hitchcock's macguffin. It's enough to say the story of three honest men who return over four million dollars is not worth watching for two hours.
Much of what makes the film successful is the way in which decisions seem to make themselves. Almost nothing is premeditated, and no matter how much Hank the new father intends to remain harmless, he travels into deeper trouble. Bill Paxton does a solid job transmitting the feelings of a likable average Joe. We admire his humanity as he proves himself a warm husband and caring brother. When his life conflicts with outside forces, though, Hank displays his real character. He's a formidable enemy to Lou; their jealous relationship is one of the main pivots of the story. "Who would you choose, if you had to," Hank questions Jacob, "me or Lou?" It's clear that, when put in tight situations, Hank intends to emerge alive and free, and hopefully wealthy. Key to his performance is the sympathy of the audience, which Paxton is able to engage even after Hank veers into savage behavior.
The best acting in the piece, however, is done by Billy Bob Thornton as big brother Jake. Already the recipient of a Best Supporting Actor Award from the Online Film Critics Society, Thornton is bound to command other nominations and acclaim for this role. If Bill Paxton plays Joe Average, Thornton plays the subtly wise loser, a Mortimer Snerd of a man. Sporting longish hair, bad teeth and duct-taped eyeglasses, Jacob seems a comic character tramping straight into tragedy. And what's nearly ludicrous is that we remain sympathetic to his plight even after he too commits heinous acts. That's the queer magic of the film -- that it serves as a canny study of the innocence and remorse of men after they've forfeited all claims to mercy. In his expressions - the now-trademarked pouchy cheeks and piercing eyes, Thornton is able to transform Jacob into an unlucky Everyman, a big brother who is not quite right but who, at the same time, is wise and protective.
As Lou, Brent Briscoe does a delightful reprise of Rub, the best friend of Donald Sullivan, in 'Nobody's Fool.' Lou is just a bit brighter, but more tragically flawed. Briscoe plays him with a straight-forward presentation, and Lou comes off as a drunken dumbass, another character who rushes into action before he is even able to think. In another supporting role, Bridget Fonda seems under-utilized as Sarah, Hank's wife. Fonda is good with the deadpan seriousness of a woman not quite happy with her life. She often surprises us with her suggestions; we can feel Sarah's presence in Hank's actions even when she is offscreen.
The settings of the film are functional, the wintry scenes beautiful and symbolic. From the forest where the wrecked plane lies, to the middle-class kitchen where an ordinary couple schemes about the unspeakable, the locations in the film do not call undue attention. Likewise, music serves a fairly transparent role, at times sustaining suspense with a score built around stark piano chords.
The final quarter of 'A Simple Plan' does smack of contrivance, but not enough to impede the immensely sad narrative of greed and its reckonings. Director Sam Raimi reins in his film just before it can go over-the-top with violence, though I would not suggest dragging along anyone under 16 to see it.
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