A Simple Plan

19981998
1616
2h 1min

7.5/10

Three blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weav... Read allThree blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the plan.Three blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn't long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the plan.

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Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 16 wins & 24 nominations total

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Trailer 2:24

A Simple Plan

Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brent Briscoe in A Simple Plan (1998)

Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda in A Simple Plan (1998)

Three diverse characters, for the most part intellectually challenged, find a deserted plane with a bag full of millions of dollars inside. They devise a simple plan to keep the money if no-one claims it. Ofcourse, nothing turns out simple... —Filmtwob <webmaster@filmfreak.co.za>

plane wreck screenplay adapted by author found money bag of money neo noir 77 more

Taglines
- Sometimes good people do evil things.
Genres
Certificate
- 16
Parents guide

Trivia
Bill Paxton's father plays the old man who confronts Paxton's character in the feed store ("Are you mean to tell me that there were five weeks last month?")

Goofs
When the money is burned in the fireplace, you can see that some of the bills say "motion picture use only".

Quotes
[Hank talks to the FBI agent about their stories to the police]
Neil Baxter: Looks like we're both gonna have an awful lot of explaining to do.
Hank Mitchell: Just me.
[Hank shoots the gun into Baxter's head]

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Prince of Egypt/Shattered Image/Little Voice/A Simple Plan/Central Station (1998)

Soundtracks
Spirit in the Sky
Written and Performed by Norman Greenbaum
Courtesy of Trans/Tone Productions

Top review

7/10

The Fargo of the year

Sam Raimi may be most at home with Horror, but his body of work in the last three decades has encompassed a variety of genres, the most intellectual of which is drama. One could argue that a Simple Plan is Raimi's smartest picture but it is not a film where we see any of his distinct auteurism. Equal credit for the film's reasonable competence goes to novelist Scott Smith, adapting his own novel for the screen.

The plot bears some close resemblance to Fargo. One could argue that A Simple Plan is a few steps ahead of the Coen Brothers. It feels far less contrived, and has a bigger heart. Fargo is cold, cynical, but definitely creative. Anyway, that is another movie

Three buddies find a plane wreck in the woods, and inside is a sack containing four million dollars. They agree to keep it hidden until they are convinced that the police are not looking for it. Sounds simple enough, but things get ugly pretty quickly.

I've never thought much for either Bill Paxton or Brigit Fonda, but A Simple Plan shows them at their best, although Billy Bob Thornton's is the most accomplished performance of the movie.

The movie is one worth seeing, it is admirable and thought provoking. There is nothing necessarily unique about it, but then again uniqueness is a rare gift for a movie to have.

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