Cinema Styles: A Simple Plan delightfully complicated

Film: A Simple Plan (1998) Director: Sam Raimi Cast: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe, Gary Cole

How to Watch: Cinemax Rating: R Runtime: 121 minutes Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Awards: Oscar Nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Thornton), Best Adapted Screenplay A Simple Plan is Sam Raimi’s 1998 film, based on Scott B. Smith’s novel of the same name. It is a neo-noir set in rural Minnesota. It tells the story of three men who discover a crashed plane with more than $4 million inside. Ironically titled, A Simple Plan features a plan that’s anything but simple. Brothers Hank and Jacob Mitchell (Paxton and Thornton), and Jacob’s friend Lou (Briscoe), decide to split up the money, but complications arise as doubt, deceit, and greed overpower each individual.

I first saw this film in a college philosophy class. The students were asked what they would do in a similar situation. It was an intriguing question that left an impression. What would you do? It can easily be applied to any difficult situation that comes up in any movie. A Simple Plan is a film that explores the consequences of greed, and also ponders the question of what makes “good” people make “bad” decisions.

A Simple Plan is a cautionary tale that serves as a twisted Aesop fable. Like the famous fables, it also features animals, with a particular focus on crows and foxes. This film has an emotional tension throughout that keeps viewers on the edge of their seat. The tragic nature of several situations and characters in the story makes this feel like William Shakespeare’s take on a midwestern crime thriller. The character development is subtle and profound.

A Simple Plan is both a morality tale and mortality tale. Several characters are faced with moral dilemmas multiple times throughout the story, with life or death consequences often on the line. Death is hiding around the corner, ready to take any of the characters at a moment’s notice, and some are luckier than others.

In life, we make plans for future events, but things don’t always go as planned. This film examines that concept, with a particular focus on crime and its futility. The plan made by the main characters at the beginning of this movie ends up being different from what actually happens. In the film’s final shot, one of the protagonists stares at his childhood home, a lone curtain blowing in the breeze of an open window. At the story’s conclusion, he feels as empty as this old abandoned house; nothing to show for himself but emotional trauma.

The performances in this movie elevate it from good to unforgettable. Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda are fantastic as husband and wife, with Fonda’s Sarah making the biggest ethical transformation in the story, and serving as the Minnesotan Lady Macbeth along the way. Billy Bob Thornton gives what might be the best performance of his career with his portrayal of Jacob Mitchell. This character is multi-faceted and Thornton plays him with empathy and subtlety.

A Simple Plan is an underseen gem full of surprises and suspense. It’s a heartbreaking film about people being destroyed by the demons that are their own desires. Dread gradually builds, with Danny Elfman’s score helping along the way. This film sees Elfman and Raimi more restrained than ever before, utilizing their skills to tell a painfully human story. The film tells a tale with an icy fragility as cold as the Minnesotan winter at its center.

Bobby Styles studied Film at UCLA, and worked as an editor and producer on several film, commercial, and music video projects in Los Angeles. He currently teaches the intermediate and advanced Video Production courses in the Multimedia & Technology Academy at Monache High School. His column appears in The Recorder every Tuesday.