A Simple Plan

In one of the sweetest ironies of the entire film year, Sam Raimi has made an A-movie with the soul of a B-movie classic.

An unleashed Raimi may be a more exciting moviemaker, but there's something to be said for the virtues of a good story well told, which describes A Simple Plan down to its last shivery snowflake.

When you get the shivers watching this wintry tale unfold, it won't be from the cold.

What makes A Simple Plan an exciting, thoughtful thriller isn't the plot twists, but the twists and turns of Hank's tortured conscience as one lie leads to bigger and deadlier deceits.

Both simplifies and brings into focus the already simple and effective thriller.

Their downward spiral is like a slow-motion highway pileup: You might think you don't want to watch, but you can't tear your eyes away.

There's neither intricacy nor surprise in the narrative, and these dopes are tedious, witless company. Mostly you find yourself thinking, "How long until dinner?"

This is a fantastic story told very well. It is full of human drama, twists, deceit and excitement. The whole production has great value. It doesn't feel like anyone sold out making this film due to the high level of creative professionalism. The actors are very skilled and pick up subtle flavours that they use to convince the audience of the validity of the movie. Everything is so realistic and believable. This is not especially violent but there are one or two moments that shock, more because of the characterisation and not the imagery. The ending is very emotional. Well worth a watch for thriller fans.

A slow-burning crime gone wrong caper that will have you squirming till the end.

A really memorable 90s thriller with a great cast, A Simple Plan is incredibly engrossing. I wasn't able to take my eyes off of the screen! The tension and complication of the "simple plan" only gets more and more heightened and convoluted as the film goes on. The ending is pretty rushed, but other than that, this is a good watch that is very reminiscent of films like Fargo.

A premise that's since been done to perfection in No Country For Old Men, this movie is sort of lingering between good and dull. The first hour is quite interesting. The inevitable convolutions and escalations keep you interested. But then you realize the movie is only half-way and it just keeps piling stuff on top where nothing really serves to provide for interesting plot progressions. It's just more of the **** that's basically what the last hour of the movie is. Just the same kind of stuff being repeated over and over again until it ends in a bit of a whimper. Nothing **** it does have its moments and the idea of the movie is decent enough. But when you have watched No Country For Old Men this movie comes off as toothless. Now I know this one came first. So maybe if I'd seen it first I'd judge it differently. Alas, I didn't.

This film does feature quite a few cliches but its also really quite gripping at times and reasonably fast paced. The story isnt original but I think it did well to highlight how quickly people can change when large amounts of money suddenly appear. There's one character who you may think has a strong sense of paranoia, although I could almost understand that considering the circumstances. Some of the details seem pretty unlikely but I found it overall a somewhat unsettling, thought provoking watch, which is by no means perfect. It tackles issues such as trust, power, greed and, as I say, paranoia (or is it? you'll have to watch the film to find out). It is perhaps a cheesy and predictable, although, however, one of the final scenes I found both quite upsetting and moving. Overall its an interesting enough watch to be worth seeing if you come across it, although I'm not sure I'd recommend going out of your way to see it as such.