A SIMPLE PLAN (15)
D: Sam Raimi
Paramount/Mutual/Savoy/BBC (James Jacks & Adam
Schroeder)
US/UK/Germany/France/Japan 1998
120 mins
Thriller
W: Scott B. Smith [based on his
novel]
DP: Avar Kivilo
Ed: Arthur Coburn & Eric L. Beason
Mus: Danny Elfman
PD: Patrizia Von Brandenstein
Bill Paxton (Hank Mitchell), Billy Bob
Thornton (Jacob Mitchell), Bridget Fonda (Sarah Mitchell), Brent Briscoe (Lou Chambers), Gary Cole (Neil Baxter)
In a small, snowbound Minnesota town, a farmer, his
mentally-handicapped brother and their erratic friend discover $4.4m in a crashed plane and devise a plan to keep the money, but their greed eventually gets the better of them.
A new twist on a familiar theme, the plot even draws
comparisons to 1996's Fargo (qv), which may be a far superior movie, although very little in this can be faulted. Amongst the best movies of 1998, with strong performances from Bill Paxton,
Bridget Fonda and Billy Bob Thornton, the latter of whom received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
8/10