A Simple Plan

If there's a moment of A Simple Plan where I wasn't holding my breath it sure the fuck didn't exist. A Simple Plan is an electrifying, unforgettable downward spiral of middle class Americans who have fallen into a situation that was too good to be true, for a reason.

Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton), his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jacob's best friend Lou (Brent Briscoe) come across a crashed plane which turns out to be the host of a corpse and over several million dollars in it. None of them are in the best financial status to be turning down that much money so they make the decision to split the money amongst themselves. Surely enough this decision turns out to bite all of them in the asses as greed, betrayal, deception take over ruining the relationships of all the characters involved.

A Simple Plan wouldn't have worked as well if the trio of leads didn't commit to such an intense degree. Bill Paxton is a force of nature as Hank, the character who easily makes the biggest moral downgrade of all the characters. It's fascinating watching his character fall down the rabbit hole of sin as money drives him to do things he would have never imagined doing.

As easily the least morally repugnant character of the group, Billy Bob Thornton shines as Hank's dim-witted but well meaning brother. There's such an innocence and sense of vulnerability in his performance it's almost depressing watching his character fall down the hole with the others at such a rapid speed.

My favorite performance though, was Bridget Fonda as Hank's wife. The scenes with her and Paxton work so well because there's such a fascinating dynamic between the two people. Though she's apprehensive at first, she turns out to be the mastermind behind Hank's moves, giving her character a deeper layer then the throwaway, worried wife.

Once you think you know where things are going in A Simple Plan they not only avoid going in that direction but they take off in the complete opposite direction at about 90 miles per hour. There's a scene about halfway through involving the three lead males and a blackmail plan that's brilliant. You think you see one character betraying another just to see him head in the opposite direction. It's a verbal cat and mouse and the viewer never knows how things will end up.

The script in A Simple Plan shines so brightly because it never feels inauthentic. Though violent, crazy, and destructive, A Simple Plan never feels ludicrous and it's a story that could happen to anyone. And that's the most frightening thing of all, that this could be a story of anyone who falls into an opportunity for a better life that's too perfect to imagine. That this life blinds your eyes to everything around you. That those who love and care for you are simply pawns in the way of your success. A Simple Plan is bone chilling and easily one of the best movies of the year.

4/4