JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

morrison-dylan-fan Becoming interested in movies in the late 90's,I would see a Sky Movies Box Office program that showed trailers to current releases. One of the few that has stayed in my mind is the unsettling trailer for this title. Recently introduced to Sam Rami's superb Evil Dead trilogy by a fellow IMDber,I was pleased to find this much lesser Rami creation airing,which led to me finally finding out how simple the plan could be.View on the film:A less than simple time in pre and post-production, ( Ben Stiller, John Boorman, Mike Nichols and John Dahl were all set to direct at various times,and the original studio going bust)director Sam Rami and cinematographer Alar Kivilo makes all these problems melt with a frosty Neo-Noir atmosphere. Advised on how to film in snow by friends the Coen brothers, Rami and Kivilo make the small town feel mercilessly cold to any attempt the trio make to keep the cash secret,as the overcast sombre skies and mountains of pure snow lights up any drop of blood that the trio spill. Following their first team-up on Darkman, Rami and Kivilo free up their excellent simmering pans across the doubtful faces of the trio with composer Danny Elfman's (who later married co-star Bridget Fonda) slow-burn score igniting at each wrong turn of the plan,that sends shivers down the score, and darting tracking shots following the ravens of death.Adapting his screenplay into a novel whilst long delays took place, (which by chance,is also what John Steinbeck did with The Pearl) this process by writer Scott B. Smith gives the relationships an incredible emotional depth, with Hank's touching protection for Jacob recalling George and Lennie in Of Mice And Men. Pulling a black bag of Neo-Noir trouble out of a plane,Smith brilliantly agitates the trust between the trio with glances and misplaced words to the locals building up intense friction and doubt between the loyal guys. Going against Lou's wishes by telling his wife,Smith makes the bond between Hank and Sarah be one that dips into Femme Fatale waters, via Sarah's influence guiding Hank to be the dominant one of the trio, but also rooting in him questions over the reliability of his friends,until a poetic Noir ending where Hank burns Sarah's influence away.Mistrusting Hank from the moment they pull out the cash, Brent Briscoe gives an excellent performance as Lou,whose short-fuse Briscoe uses to keep the other guys on edge over fear of a deadly outburst. Uncomfortable even touching the money,Bill Paxton gives a great performance as Hank,with Paxton bringing timidness in Hank's interactions with Bridget Fonda's thoughtful, ambitious Sarah, and a brittle loyalty to Lou and Jacob that Paxton uses to dig Hank into becoming a Noir loner. Fighting to hold the friendships together, Billy Bob Thornton gives an outstanding performance as Jacob,whose sincere, simplistic view on how they can handle the cash Thornton holds to remain firm,even as the plan turns out to be less than simple.

PresidentForLife I can't understand the ecstatic reviews. This movie looks good but is hampered by unsympathetic characters doing foolish things. Why does Hank confide in his brother, a known loose cannon who can't keep a secret? Why don't they just split the money up in the first place and go their separate ways? Yes, the dramatic tension increases in the second half of this overlong movie, but two hours is more than is needed to tell this tale. The most interesting character is Hank's wife Sarah, who for some reason turns out to be the criminal mastermind of the bunch. And of course who can forget Gary Cole as the fake FBI guy they basically just hand everything over to despite Sarah's prescient warning. Even the sheriff himself didn't ask to see the FBI badge! The action is just too random and illogical to add up to a good plot.

carbuff Hard to find any real faults with this movie, beyond the fact that it's a bit grim. Of course, you know from the very beginning when they find the money that it isn't going to work out well--the only question is how it is going to go bad--I don't want to say anything else to spoil the movie.Everything about this movie, from the filming to the acting to the plot, is strong. Yes, most of the characters annoy you or seem stupid or both, but they do so in a believable fashion and that is why we have a story--otherwise it would have been "happily ever after" very quickly and we would have no movie or morality play, and there would be nothing to discuss. After all, we can assume that we never actually hear about the smart criminals, and the dumb ones make for the best stories anyhow.

g-bodyl A Simple Plan is a well-crafted thriller that follows in the veins of the Coen Brother's Fargo. Heck, both movies even look the same. This film makes good use of the backdrop of snow in the Minnesota setting. The morale of this story is: simple things may seem simple, but are not actually simple. This is an incredible film that is masterfully directed and tells a story about people who make life-changing decisions.Sam Raimi, known for his horror and Spider-Man films, directs a very tense thriller about these blue-collar people and what we could see as their fatal flaw. Two brothers, Hank and Jacob and Jacob's friend Lou stumbles upon an airplane that is loaded with four million dollars in cash. They devise a plan which is to keep the money if no one comes searching for it, but little did they realize things may not be that simple.The acting is fantastic, especially for a thriller like this. Bill Paxton as Hank is excellent as the guy who's reluctant to keep the money. Billy Bob Thornton was also magnificent as Hank's not-so-bright brother, Jacob. Thornton's scenes were just incredible. Brent Briscoe does a great job as Lou. Finally, Bridget Fonda does an excellent job as Hank's pregnant wife who is very eager for money.Overall, A Simple Plan is a taut, tense thriller following in the snowy footsteps of Fargo. It's also noticed for it's complexity and smartness. This film also has a morale in that even good people can do evil things and unfortunately that's a hard truth. A very good thriller indeed. I rate this film 9/10.