Sometimes good people do evil things.
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.
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Character
Grave, classical in form, contemporary and earnest.
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- contemporarynostalgic
- earnestironic
- warmbleak
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22 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Omnivores.
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“Is Billy Bob Thornton the best thing in A Simple Plan?”
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“Is this Sam Raimi's best work?”
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“Would a little humor have helped?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Jul 20247/10
Yikes, talk about money being the root of all evil! "Hank" (Bill Paxton), brother "Jacob" (Billy Bob Thornton) and their friend "Lou" (Brent Briscoe) are out hunting in the snowy wilderness when they discover the wreck of a plane. The pilot's corpse is still at the controls but they are more interested in the contents of a sports bag. It's got over $4m in it! What to do? Hand it in? Put it back? Keep it? Well the whole story is set against a backdrop of a less attractive American dream with a paucity of opportunity for any of these men. "Hank" will soon be a father and "Jacob" is determined to reclaim a family farm that was foreclosed upon years earlier. Decision made! Initially they are organised and disciplined. No splashing the cash, taking things responsibly and keeping under the radar - but gradually that disciple starts to crack. Not least because the expecting "Sarah" (Bridget Fonda) is conceivably even more determined to use the cash than the men who found it. Pressures begin to build, trusts begin to fray and some newspaper clippings inform them a little more of the likely source of their windfall. With the arrival of the FBI - well things turn sour on just about every lev
Read the whole review on TMDB - Wuchakon TMDB · Jun 20198/10
***Bleak crime drama in the wintery Minnesota woods*** Two brothers & a friend from a small town in Minnesota (Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Brent Briscoe) happen upon a crashed plane in the woods, which contains over $4 million in cash. They assume it’s drug money and hatch a simple plan to sit on the money until spring when the plane is discovered; if no one legitimately claims it they’ll divvy it up. But things don’t go according to plan due to idiocy, mistrust and greed. Bridget Fonda is on hand as the main protagonist’s wife. Directed by Sam Raimi before his ultra-success with the Spider-Man trilogy, "A Simple Plan” (1998) was written by Scott B. Smith based on his page-turning book of the same name (there are enough changes to make both worthwhile). The wintery Minnesota setting is fitting for the bleak psychological drama. Speaking of which, the best thing about this movie is its exploration of human nature and how “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,” as the Bible puts it. The movie effectively shows how basically good and normal people can be corrupted by the temptation of easy wealth; so corrupted that he or she is suddenly willing to murder, lie and
Read the whole review on TMDB - John Chardon TMDB · Nov 20139/10
Do you ever feel evil? A Simple Plan is directed by Sam Raimi and adapted to screenplay by Scott Smith from his own novel of the same name. It stars Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe, Chelcie Ross and Jack Walsh. Music is by Danny Elfman and cinematography by Alar Kivilo. The snowy wilds of Midwest America, and two brothers and one friend unearth a crashed plane in the snow that hosts one dead pilot and a duffel bag with over $4 million dollars stashed inside. It's moral quandary time. Keep the money as it's probably drug money anyway, tell the police, or sit on it and wait to see what happens? A decision is made, and it literally turns everyone's life upside down... Scott B. Smith's novel was perfect for a filmic adaptation, in essence it's classic noir with its small town Americanna setting that houses a moral twist of fate that ultimately sees the town implode from within. How refreshing to find the author adapting his own source material, and not only that, to find that it has also gotten a grade "A" production from Raimi and his team. The story is in all truth simple, it asks the characters, and us, what to do when finding so much cash? Fate meant t
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Cast
- Billy Bob ThorntonJacob Mitchell
- Bill PaxtonHank Mitchell
- Bridget FondaSarah Mitchell
- Brent BriscoeLou Chambers
- Jack WalshTom Butler
- Chelcie RossCarl Jenkins
- Becky Ann BakerNancy Chambers
- Gary ColeBaxter
- Bob DavisFBI Agent Renkins
- Peter SyvertsenFBI Agent Freemont
Crew
- Sam RaimiDirector
- Scott B. SmithScreenplay
- Scott B. SmithNovel
- Alar KiviloDirector of Photography
- Danny ElfmanOriginal Music Composer
- Arthur CoburnEditor
- Eric L. BeasonEditor
- James JacksProducer
- Adam SchroederProducer
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