For years, Sam Raimi has been known as the director of the notoriously campy horror cult films "Evil Dead," "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness." Occasionally he broke out into the mainstream with attempts such as "Darkman" or "The Quick and The Dead," but those pictures came and went, even with the star power of Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio.
As a result, Raimi seemed destined to be forever the quirky, midnight movie director. Therefore, it is a huge surprise that one of the best films of the year, "A Simple Plan," has Raimi at its helm. Directed in a quiet, haunting way, the film is a powerful crime fable that is tense, moving and multi-layered.
Written by Scott Smith '87, "A Simple Plan" stars Bill Paxton ("Twister") as Hank Mitchell, a feed store accountant and soon-to-be-father. He is happily married to his librarian wife, Sarah (Bridget Fonda from "Single White Female"), and maintains a seemingly peaceful existence. Most of all, Hank leads a simple life, which according to his opening narration, is the key to a good life. As the movie unfolds, however, the audience discovers that Hank's life, as well as that of his entire family, is in fact very complex.
Set in a snowy, rural town, the film will instantly draw comparisons to "Fargo," but this picture is much different. On a dreary afternoon, Hank heads out to a cemetery with his dimwitted brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton from "Slingblade") to visit their father's grave. Along for the trip is Jacob's drunkard friend Lou (Brent Briscoe).
After the poignant visit is ruined by Jacob and Lou peeing in the snow to make designs, the three head back to their respective homes. However, after a series of events, the men find themselves chasing a fox in a nature preserve and ultimately discovering a downed plane in a snow bank.
Inside, the men find $ 4 million and so begins their descent into tough moral crossroads and sordid crimes. As can be expected, the men all suspect each other of all sorts of crimes, and Hank, the supposed moral center, finds himself under pressure from both his brother and Sarah to do various, conflicting things with the money.
"A Simple Plan" could have been a by-the-numbers crime fable like "Shallow Grave" where money ultimately drives characters to commit horrible deeds, usually crime. However, the film rises above its genre and exists as a carefully etched and complex picture.
One of the elements of the film that makes it work so well is that money is not as much a power that transforms people, but rather a catalyst that brings issues to a head. Ultimately, it is the characters' insecurities, fears, attachments and beliefs that push them to the edge.
Perhaps the strongest aspect of the film is the character development. By far, "A Simple Plan" has the most detailed and nuanced characters of the year. In addition, their relationships are multi-faceted, tough and challenging. Hank and Jacob have one great scene after another where they must reconcile their brotherhood with their emotional distance.
During a critical scene, Jacob must choose loyalty between Lou and Hank. The stakes are very high, and the audience is held in suspense as Jacob, the most impulsive and unpredictable of the bunch, wavers. The scene is riveting and even somewhat surprising in the way that the tables turn not only for the people on the screen but for the audience as well.
Overall, the performances in the picture are sharp and on the mark. Paxton and Fonda both bring a mixture of simplicity and pathos to their characters in an astonishingly effective way.
But the real scene stealer here is Thornton who wisely underplays his character. His role is tricky and could have simply been portrayed as a loose cannon, but instead, Thornton goes for subtlety and succeeds. His performance is worthy of the Oscar.
Ultimately, the film questions the notion of simplicity. Is it possible to have a simple plan for anything? Can someone lead a simple life and still be happy? Does avoiding complex problems really simplify a situation? There is no clear, or simple, answer in film, and without a heavy-handed preachiness, "A Simple Plan" succeeds in letting the audience come to its own conclusions.
