A Simple Plan

The curse of being a horror director is that if you’re really good at your job no one wants you to do anything else.  And while Sam Raimi’s films were never straight-forward horror to begin with – full of Three Stooges comedy gags and a tongue-in-cheek superhero aesthetic – his visual approach was best appreciated by those running in well-established cult cinema circles.  So his decision to work as a director-for-hire on 1998’s A Simple Plan is easy to understand as a proving ground to impress more mature-minded studio executives.  That he made a pretty good film in the bargain is just icing on the cake.

 

Hank (Bill Paxton) enjoys the simple pleasures of his life in rural Minnesota.  But after discovering $4 million dollars in a crashed plan, the temptation to keep the cash is simply too much to resist; despite the fact that he has to share the loot – and the secret – with his slow-witted brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) and his unemployed alcoholic best fried Lou (Brent Biscoe).  But it’s Hank’s wife, Sarah (Bridget Fonda), who winds up pulling the strings…and pushing them all deeper into danger.

 

Scott B. Smith’s screenplay, based on his own novel, has the mechanics of a character-driven film noir down pat.  So it’s no wonder noir specialists John Dahl and John Boorman were originally attached to bring the story to the screen.  Raimi, rather than inserting his signature style, adapts to the material with a hands-off approach that lets the actors do all the heavy lifting.  The bleak, snowy setting lends itself to some tremendous master shots worthy of framing over the mantle, but it’s a far cry from the director’s usual bread and butter.

 

Despite all the twists and turns, this is a film less about action than reaction. As beloved as the late Bill Paxton was for his appearances in blockbusters and indie films alike, his performances always relied on the quality of the actors around him.  And you don’t get much better than Billy Bob Thornton, who turns Jacob into a modern-day Benny from Of Mice and Men: loyal to a fault but manipulated at every turn.  Even Bridget Fonda gives a good turn as a housewife femme fatale, camouflaging her greed with wholesome domesticity.  It all pairs well with a simple but effective score from frequent collaborator Danny Elfman who manages to echo the film’s theme: that a bit of evil lurks underneath even the most honorable among us.

 

Arrow presents the film on UHD struck from a new 4K remaster of the original negative approved by Raimi himself.  But that’s really the only participation you get from the director outside of some archival on-set interviews with him and the cast.  The new materials include two audio commentaries – one from production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein  - and interviews with cinematographer Alar Kivilo and cast members Becky Ann Baker and Chelcie Ross.  The limited-edition set is packaged with a slipcover and reversible sleeve plus illustrated collector’s booklet.

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