A Simple Plan (1998)

Directed by Sam Raimi. Starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe, Chelcie Ross, Jack Walsh, Gary Cole, Becky Ann Baker. [R]

Well-crafted suspenser finds director Raimi toning down his melodramatic verve and flamboyance for an escalating series of nail-biting events. A trio of Minnesota small-towners—simple and sensible feed mill worker, Hank (Paxton), his slow-witted and socially-inept brother, Jacob (Thornton), and local drunken sluggard, Lou (Briscoe)—stumble upon a crashed airplane carrying over $4 million; they decide to keep it for themselves under set conditions, but greed, threats, bad decisions, and paranoia get the better of them in short time. A cinematic “money is the root of all evil” thesis if there ever was one, the contrivances may pile even higher than the bodies, but it’s taut and ruthless in the right ways. The climax doesn’t quite work, but the character details, performances, and tension ensure that it remains a first-rate thriller. The man arguing with Hank in the feed store about monthly payments is Paxton’s father, John.

82/100