Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.
Bill Paxton Billy Bob Thornton Bridget Fonda Brent Briscoe Jack Walsh Chelcie Ross Becky Ann Baker Gary Cole Bob Davis Peter Syvertsen Tom Carey John Paxton Marie Mathay Paul Magers Joan Steffand Jill Sayre Wayne A. Evenson Tim Storms Terry Hempleman Jay Gjernes Grant Curtis Solomon Abrams Nina Kaczorowski Thomas Boedy Mary Woolever Rhiannon R. Sauers Christopher Gallus Eric Cegon Robert Martin Halverson Show All…
Hilton Rosemarin John Alan Champion Cyril H. Matthys Scott Nordhausen Rando Schmook Stuart Skrien Scott Troha William A. Wilson
Christopher Doyle Spice Williams-Crosby James Fierro Greg Walker Jay Caputo Eric D. Howell Benjamin Meade
Michael D. Wilhoit Ed Novick Craig S. Jaeger Gary Mundheim Melissa Sherwood Hofmann Brad Sherman David W. Alstadter Jeffrey Wilhoit James Moriana Dino DiMuro Julie Lucas Kelly Oxford Alan Rankin Scott Sanders Drew Webster
Paramount Mutual Film Company Savoy Pictures Newmarket Capital Group BBC Tele München TOHO-TOWA Marubeni UGC PH
A Thousand Miles, El Plan, Simple Plan, A, En enkel plan, Un plan sencillo, Ein einfacher Plan, Soldi sporchi, Un plan simple, Простой план, Basit Bir Plan, 绝地计划, En simpel plan, Jednoduchý plán, シンプル・プラン, Ένα απλό σχέδιο, Szimpla ügy, תוכנית פשוטה, Un plan simplu, Um Plano Simples, План без грешка, Prosty plan, 심플 플랜, Простий план, یک نقشه ساده, Joka leikkiin ryhtyy, 絕地計畫
Canada
Toronto Film Festival
USAR
Greece15
Netherlands12
AustraliaM
France
UK15
South Korea18
Germany16
Netherlands12
Australia
Canada
France
Germany
Greece
Netherlands
South Korea
UK
USA
This is one of the best movies of the 90s and we don't talk about it nearly enough.
![nathaxnne [hiatus <3]](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/1/9/5/2/4/3/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=2d9f35eba8){kind=small}
There's a stark, corrosive sadness seeping through A Simple Plan like blood freezing in snow. Upper Midwestern Noir so black and so cold that it could take digits off extremities without any the wiser. The spectre looming above, behind it all is economic collapse: foreclosure, unemployment, neurological difficulty, isolation, loneliness. The people of A Simple Plan are presented directly, warmly, without irony or condescension, so that when the bad stuff starts going around, it hurts and it keeps hurting, a dull ache which sharpens to acuity now and again. Scott Smith adapted his novel into this screenplay, so its voice is both preserved and fluidly translated to the screen. Raimi's direction may be career-best to that point, pulled back behind…
This is a perfect movie, zero false notes, suspenseful and tragic, and even though it's usually touted as a showcase for Billy Bob Thornton it wouldn't work nearly as well without Paxton, who conveys his character's descent into evil with a level of credibility that's normally taboo in mainstream entertainment. There's no hidden arrogance inside him that leads him to a life of crime, no sociopathic tendencies that comfortably remove him from audience identification, and it's Paxton's innate decency as an actor that makes this descent so heart-wrenching.
Very restrained as Sam Raimi movies go — and if there’s one thing I don’t really want from a Sam Raimi movie, it’s restraint. Like The Gift, it’s also a movie where the protagonists make so many bad/dumb decisions that it does begin to get on my nerves. That said, there aren’t too many movie climaxes better than the last 15 minutes of this one. It’s amazing how much you’ll forgive a movie when it really nails its ending (and, conversely, how a crappy ending can ruin an otherwise excellent film).
What I wish this movie would be is beside the point. It's a really sharp, economical piece of genre filmmaking. I don't really have anything bad to say about it. But everyone in it is a complete moron.
With the onset of adulthood and the deluge of high-stakes struggles that arrive with it, “movies that are secretly just about paying rent” has become one of my most beloved unspoken subgenres. Jackie Brown is my standard go-to example, and Tarantino even returns to this theme throughout Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but A Simple Plan equally qualifies, chiefly because Raimi and writer Scott B. Smith refuse to judge their characters and are uninterested in giving anyone “Goodbye Mr. Chips to Scarface” Heisenberg arcs.
When the question of whether or not someone is evil becomes tertiary, what we’re left with are the sad realities of a society fueled by dollars, legalities, and authorities that aren’t on anyone’s side in…
“Hank, do you ever feel evil? I do.”
That final scene with Billy Bob Thornton will never be easy to sit through.
“Nobody would ever believe that you’d be capable of doing what you’ve done.” — Sarah
Movies like the comic-gory anarchy of “Evil Dead 2” or the DIY comic book exuberance of “Darkman” or the zeal of the “Spiderman” movies are proof that Sam Raimi has been a consistently reliable director of commercial movies with personality. In my eyes, he has one masterpiece in his career and that’s his 1998 A Simple Plan with three Minnesotans who stumble upon a crashed plane in the snow and find $4+ million in cash that may or may not be traceable. Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton play at-odds brothers with one an educated working class man and the other a socially stunted loser,…
Seemingly more “simple” than Raimi’s usual spook-a-blasts and Splatterfests but that’s what makes it so special. It’s him NOT relying on his usual visual ticks and tricks but lean into story and character does this FARGO-esque decent into hell so much more effective. Sam has something to prove and i wonder if he would have gotten SPIDER-MAN if he didn’t show he could pull back a bit. One of the best of the 90’s and easily top 3 Raimi for me.
Simple people going nutty over money in the cold, just never fails to be compelling.
"You've gotta remember how people see you. You're just a normal guy, a nice, sweet, normal guy ... They're gonna know ... No, they won't. Nobody would ever believe that you'd be capable of doing what you've done."
Well the buzz about A Simple Plan being like 'Fargo' was spot on, but instead done as a straight forward drama without all that masterful quirky dark comedy from the Coens.
(Quick Hits) ... Spoilers:
- In this story, three guys come across a crashed plane with a bag full of money in it. They agree that Bill Paxton's character Hank will hold onto the cash until…
