A review by Brooks Rich
I am shocked that this movie isn't more well remembered than it is. This is one of the smartest thrillers from the '90s and has a smart tight script. It's directed by Sam Raimi, of Spider-Man but more importantly of the Evil Dead trilogy fame, and it's kind of a departure for him. It feels more like a Coen Brothers film than a Sam Raimi film, the situation is kind of a comedy of errors like Fargo but without the comedy, but there's nothing wrong with that.
The immortal Bill Paxton plays Hank Mitchell, a well educated man who is a favorite son in a small rural Minnesota town. He lives with his pregnant wife Sarah and the two are trying to cultivate a life for themselves. One day Hank is out screwing around with his brother Jacob, played by an Oscar nominated Billy Bob Thornton, and Jacob's friend Lou, played by Brent Briscoe, discover a crashed air plane in the woods with 4.4 million dollars in cash inside. After some debate and needing to convince Hank, they hatch a plan to lay low for as long as possible and keeping the money for themselves. Of course mistrust grows within their ranks and everything unravels.
This is an insidious little film. It creeps up on you slowly, getting it's hooks into you before hitting you with some pretty dark stuff starting halfway through the second act. Bill Paxton as always is fantastic as the good natured Hank trying to come to terms with doing something he knows he's wrong. But we can't just easily judge these guys. What if we had the chance for a tax free windfall like that, that we knew wouldn't hurt anyone? Who would and wouldn't take it?
The tagline of this film is "sometimes good people do evil things" but could very well be "nothing comes easy". The plan falls apart nearly from the start and it's seeing how the three men, and eventually Hank's wife, react to everything. It is one of those situations in a film you know is doomed from the start but you get why the men are doing it. It is also fascinating when it goes from a plan where no one is getting hurt to basically a plan where one has to sell their soul to the devil. Sometimes good people do evil things is very much what A Simple Plan is all about.
I highly encourage any fans of smart crime thrillers to track this one down. It's a smart well made ride and a deeply underrated film that deserves more love.
I am shocked that this movie isn't more well remembered than it is. This is one of the smartest thrillers from the '90s and has a smart tight script. It's directed by Sam Raimi, of Spider-Man but more importantly of the Evil Dead trilogy fame, and it's kind of a departure for him. It feels more like a Coen Brothers film than a Sam Raimi film, the situation is kind of a comedy of errors like Fargo but without the comedy, but there's nothing wrong with that.
The immortal Bill Paxton plays Hank Mitchell, a well educated man who is a favorite son in a small rural Minnesota town. He lives with his pregnant wife Sarah and the two are trying to cultivate a life for themselves. One day Hank is out screwing around with his brother Jacob, played by an Oscar nominated Billy Bob Thornton, and Jacob's friend Lou, played by Brent Briscoe, discover a crashed air plane in the woods with 4.4 million dollars in cash inside. After some debate and needing to convince Hank, they hatch a plan to lay low for as long as possible and keeping the money for themselves. Of course mistrust grows within their ranks and everything unravels.
This is an insidious little film. It creeps up on you slowly, getting it's hooks into you before hitting you with some pretty dark stuff starting halfway through the second act. Bill Paxton as always is fantastic as the good natured Hank trying to come to terms with doing something he knows he's wrong. But we can't just easily judge these guys. What if we had the chance for a tax free windfall like that, that we knew wouldn't hurt anyone? Who would and wouldn't take it?
The tagline of this film is "sometimes good people do evil things" but could very well be "nothing comes easy". The plan falls apart nearly from the start and it's seeing how the three men, and eventually Hank's wife, react to everything. It is one of those situations in a film you know is doomed from the start but you get why the men are doing it. It is also fascinating when it goes from a plan where no one is getting hurt to basically a plan where one has to sell their soul to the devil. Sometimes good people do evil things is very much what A Simple Plan is all about.
I highly encourage any fans of smart crime thrillers to track this one down. It's a smart well made ride and a deeply underrated film that deserves more love.
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