A Simple Plan Movie Review

A Simple Plan (1998)

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Written by: Scott B. Smith
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Gary Cole, Brent Briscoe
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Two brothers and a friend find four million dollars at a plane crash site and try to keep it, but paranoia, greed, and fear of getting caught cause their plan to spiral out of control with disastrous consequences.

Verdict
This explores the adage three can keep a secret if two are dead. They find this money, and while they know they should turn it in, soon they're thinking about what they could do with it. That makes the money real. Once they have this secret, then they have to hold on to it, protect it, worried everyone else is out to get their secret. One crime begets another crime, and men that considered themselves good people turn into anything but. They try to justify their actions are worth it. That seems difficult to believe given the evidence.
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Review
The author Scott Smith translated his own book to a screenplay. Sam Raimi directed For Love of the Game (1999) next before directing Spider-Man (2002).

Hank (Bill Paxton) and his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) go to visit their parents gravestone. Jacob brings along his friend Lou (Brent Briscoe). Hank doesn't get along with either of them all that well. On the way back they chase after a fox that caused them to run off the road. That leads them to a plane in the woods with four million dollars in it and a dead pilot.

Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, Brent Briscoe play Jacob, Hank, Lou

Hank wants to turn it in. Jacob and Lou argue that it's dirty money. They aren't stealing, and it's obvious no one is searching for it since they found it. The trio come up with a simple plan. Hank will hold onto the money until spring. If no one comes after it, they'll split it up. Hank states that's the only way he won't turn it in. He wants to have a clear conscious that he's not stealing it.

Money can change people, and this much money with only one of them holding it, creates strife. How will that play out? Hank becomes paranoid that Jacob and Lou are teaming up against him. Soon Lou wants his share, and he doesn't want to wait. He tries to blackmail Hank, and it's clear that Jacob has been talking. What can Hank do to keep Lou in line? One coverup leads to another. Hank persuades Jacob to help him blackmail Lou, but Hank's great idea takes a turn.

Having recently read the book, this is a very good translation to film. The movie reduces Hank's crimes. In the book he stacks up a lot of bodies, basically becoming a sociopath. That works in the book because we spend more time in his head and it's a longer decline. He's constantly trying to justify his actions.

Jacob begins dreaming about what he'll do with the money. That's when the money stops being hypothetical and becomes a reality. I wish this had given us a scene with Hank and his wife imagining what they'd do with it. That's the one thing the movie is missing that the book had. Making it real is what propelled Hank to take drastic measures.

Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton play Jacob, Hank

When an FBI agent comes looking for the plane, Hank doesn't know if he's already caught or only on the brink. He has to lead the local sheriff and the FBI agent to the plane to maintain his cover.

The book had a lot more violence, and Hank worrying about what would happen if he was caught. There's only so much you can do in a movie, and this captures the main point well. While the ending diverges quite a bit from the book. They're both violent with the movie focusing that violence in a very specific way. The book's conclusion is shocking and appalling. The movie is more heartbreaking. The change works very well.

Jacob sums up the conclusion of the story well. He wishes they had never found the plane. It brought nothing but trouble, causing everyone that touched it to commit criminal deeds. While the FBI question Hank, they tell him the ransom money was marked. It can't be spent without being traced.  The book concludes in the same way, with the money being worthless. Hank and everyone around him lost their humanity as they became greedy. They're all left with nothing.