| A Simple Plan | 
 enlarge | Director: Sam Raimi
Actors: Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $3.79
You Save: $6.19 (62%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  162 reviews
Sales Rank: 17230
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 121
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.7 x 0.6
MPN: PARD333767D
ISBN: 6305417830
UPC: 097363337676
EAN: 9780792155478
ASIN: 6305417830
Theatrical Release Date: December 11, 1998
Release Date: June 22, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Three men are embroiled in mistrust murder and intrigue when they find four million dollars in a crashed plane. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/17/2006 Starring: Billy Bob Thornton Bridget Fonda Run time: 121 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
An endless white landscape of rolling hills and snow-blanketed forests. A lonely acoustic score (by Danny Elfman) playing in the background. A vision of rural simplicity portrayed in hushed tones. The stillness is about to shatter. Brothers Hank (Bill Paxton), an accountant at a small-town feed store, and Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), an unemployed, hygienically challenged dim bulb, accompanied by Jacob's oafish pal Lou (Brent Briscoe), stumble across a downed plane in the brush containing a corpse and a sack containing millions of dollars--surely the aftermath of a drug deal, they conclude. Greed overcomes good sense, and the three agree to hide the money for a year and keep the secret to themselves. A simple plan indeed, and it doesn't take long for it to go all to hell as the lure of wealth tears at kinship and friendship, and the ruthless machinations of impetuous partners leave a body count in its wake. Bridget Fonda costars as Hank's wife, whose initial hesitation gives way to cold-blooded plotting. Sam Raimi, best known for wowing audiences with stylistic gymnastics and manic mayhem, directs this quietly desperate thriller with chilly restraint, finding its cold, tragic heart in the estranged relationship between Hank and Jacob: the college boy blind to the truth of his own family and the town loser whose tortured soul reveals a humanity lost on his brother (a brilliant performance by Thornton). Adapted by Scott B. Smith from his acclaimed novel. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 157 more reviews...
 One Man's Treasure... November 12, 2008
A SIMPLE PLAN, Sam Raimi's film about the deadly effects of greed and suspicion, concerns three rural gents (Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brent Briscoe) who stumble on a wrecked airplane w/ a dead pilot and four and a half million dollars inside! At first, they are ecstatic over their good fortune, but soon they learn that human nature is totally untrustworthy in the face of such a huge amount of cash. Each man is altered (revealed?) by the stress of the situation, until paranoia, rage, and murder result. This wickedly clever story is cold, dark, and humorous. Paxton and Thornton play brothers Hank and Jacob, doomed by their inability to think things through. Bridget Fonda is Hank's increasingly greedy wife. Gary Cole (Office Space, The Gift) is an alleged FBI agent who may not be on the level. A SIMPLE PLAN is anything but! Buy immediately...
A Portrait of Greed and Human Frailty September 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Set against the desolation of an upper-Midwest winter, "a simple plan" brings to mind another snow blanketed tale of greed-fueled tragedy, namely "Fargo". In the Coen brother's cynical depiction of human nature at its worst, the ever-present North Dakota snow became a metaphor for the emotional and ethical bankruptcy of the small town losers who's petty problems led to cold-blooded murder.
Sam Rami approaches a similar theme from a somewhat different angle, preferring to frame his protagonists in a kinder light. Rather than mocking them for the smallness of their lives he invites us to see them as average human beings at the mercy of circumstances beyond their control. In his film the snow is more like the clean conscience the characters enjoy before greed and paranoia weave their way through it, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.
The story is self-explanatory. Hank Mitchell(Paxton), his dim-witted brother Jacob (Thornton) and Jacob's redneck friend Lou (Briscoe) get in over their heads when they stumble across 4 million dollars in a downed plane. Good intentions give way to greedy plotting, and the story moves swiftly and predictably to its violent conclusion.
What elevates this film above a run of the mill drama is the complexity of the leading characters and the cast's ability to add the necessary depth to their performances. Hank and his expectant wife Sarah (Fonda) have accepted their small town lives and consider themselves content. Jacob and Lou, both unemployed, live on the brink of poverty but seem happy enough drinking beer together and telling dirty jokes. The discovery of the money shakes them out of the limbo of ordinary life, and the prospect of escaping what they suddenly consider a miserable existence quickly consumes them.
In short order Sarah's priorities shift from child-rearing to surreptitious plotting, forcing mild mannered Hank, acting as the agent of his wife's machinations, to find in himself the dark heart of a killer. Jacob, who is actually more clever than he seems, foolishly believes that wealth will finally end his loneliness and skillfully draws his brother Hank into his plans to buy back the family farm. Lou, who sees an easy way to shed his loser image, is fully aware that as the only non-Mitchell family member he is the most vulnerable to betrayal. In order to improve his odds he proceeds to erode the bond between Jacob and Hank.
Alliances are formed, promises are made, and bitter animosities and painful secrets are laid bare. The bonds of trust unravel, and everyone involved finds themselves committing acts they never thought they were capable of. Ultimately the film is a skillful examination of the weak underpinnings that support civility, family and friendships. These four relatively normal people, Rami shows, are easily broken by ill begotten wealth. What Lou joyfully calls "The American Dream in a Gym Bag" turns out to be a nightmare beyond their ability to control. If it can happen to them, the film seems to warn, it can happen to anyone.
Rami's serious approach to the material allows us to overlook the occasional narrative stretch, like the fact that the police more or less overlook the mounting body-count, or that no-one discovers the secret of the money before it's too late to undo the damage (a simple phone call probably would have done the trick). These are minor flaws in a well crafted film where the tension, as well as the stakes, escalate with each passing moment. Definitely worth a viewing or two.
A Gripping Tale of Greed, Betrayal, & Murder September 9, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
On a snowy day in the rural Midwest, three men--two brothers and one of their buddies--stumble across the wreckage of a small airplane and discover that there is over $4,000,000 in cash (and a very dead pilot) on board. Realizing that the money is probably the ill-gotten spoils of some sort of criminal activity, the trio devises a "simple" plan that may allow them to keep the booty: they all agree to sit on the cash for a few months and wait for any possible indication that the law is searching for it. If it turns out that the money is marked or traceable, they will dispose of it; if it's clean, they'll split it up evenly and go their separate ways. Unfortunately, the plan doesn't turn out to be as simple as it first seemed, and soon the three men find their lives turned inside out by mistrust, paranoia, betrayal, and ultimately murder.
Based on the 1993 debut novel of author Scott Smith (who also wrote this screenplay adaptation), A SIMPLE PLAN is a gripping story that plays both as a psychological thriller and as a horror film of sorts. In the vein of a good psychological thriller, it questions the nature of good and evil in our modern world as it examines the lives of three small-town citizens who become utterly consumed by unfettered greed. As a modern horror film, it is one of those cautionary tales that warns how even the best of us might be tempted to justify the most egregious acts of immorality if we allow ourselves to succumb to the lust for money.
The performances of the major players in A SIMPLE PLAN are jaw-droppingly realistic. In their portrayals of two brothers who, though separated by differences in education levels and income brackets, still back each other when the chips are down, Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton seem to rip the personas of their characters directly from the pages of Smith's brilliantly written novel, yet they do so with an honesty and warmth that could almost make one believe they are off-screen family. Brent Briscoe's portrayal of the white-trash buddy who completes the story's trio of treasure-finders is also an Oscar-caliber study in gritty realism, and Bridget Fonda delivers what is probably one of her best performances in her role of a bubbly upper-middle-class wife who gets caught up in dangerous circumstances beyond her control. And in a minor role, actor Gary Cole offers up a deliciously devious turn as one of the film's traditional baddies.
Director Sam Raimi, better known for directing the cult horror classic THE EVIL DEAD (1981) and the Tobey Maguire SPIDERMAN films, does a top-notch job in bringing Smith's novel to the big screen. He tones down some of the novel's less-believable over-the-top violence and streamlines the overall narrative, yet he still maintains the tension that makes the story's denouement so poignant.
Paramount's DVD edition offers a pristine digital transfer of the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio (enhanced for widescreen TVs). But as is often the case with Paramount DVDs, there is little offered by way of extras or bonus features. Nonetheless, A SIMPLE PLAN is a gripping, modern tale of greed, betrayal, and murder that has several clever plot twists, lots of psychological tension, and a poignant surprise ending, making the DVD well worth amazon's low price of admission.
well done August 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This underrated film has a great deal of messaging in it worth multiple viewings. Paxton is reliable, Fonda is tricky and Thornton is memorable. Great supporting cast in a film that is much bigger than its understated delivery.
Good purchase February 29, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
This was a good choice; it came on time and quality was great. I'm glad I bought it. I'm always glad to purchase from Amazon. Good service and good products. Keep it up.
Rita Allen
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