Maybe along with "Fargo" there could be a new sub-genre called "Red Snow Noir", referring to blood being spilled in snow-clad areas of the Northern Midwest or in the snowy mountains. The Cohen brothers covered the terrain in a straight noir film in "Fargo". In "A Simple Plan", the snow is also stained with blood but there's a bit more character development than in Fargo. "A Simple Plan" has many interesting parallels with both "Fargo" and "Of Mice and Men". The two leads are brothers, one with high intelligence, the other not quite playing with a full deck, like "Of Mice and Men". The leads are in over their heads and end up playing a dangerous game, similar to "Fargo"."A Simple Plan" as the name implies ends up not being simple. Three Midwest guys in a small town in the upper Midwest, two of whom are brothers, Hank and Jacob (Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton) and two of whom are down on their luck, Hank and Lou (Thornton and Brent Briscoe), are driving from the brothers' annual paying respects to their father at his grave during the last days of Christmas/New Years vacation. Lou was just along for the ride. They nearly hit a fox literally robbing the hen-house, and they decide to hunt for the fox. During their pursuit they happen upon a crashed private airplane. The pilot is dead but their cargo makes their heads spin. Within the plane is $4.5 million in cash in $100 bills.Jacob and Lou begin fantasizing what they'll do with the money, and how it will help them get of out of debt. Hank, the more mature of the three, believes they should turn the money in. It seems it's two against one to take the money rather than give it to authorities. Then Hank proposes a compromise, a "plan" if you will. He will agree to divide the loot on condition they don't divvy up the money until Spring. By then they figure that things will die down, and if no one claims the money they can take it and sleep at night. That's the "simple plan".Of course as the name of the story implies, things won't be that "simple". Almost from the get-go they are hit with a metaphorical snow storm. They agree not to tell their wives but when Hank brings the loot home, he spills the beans to his pregnant wife, Sarah (Bridgette Fonda). They decide maybe they should return some of the money to the plane to curb suspicion. Hank decides to solicit the help of Jacob, but unfortunately Jacob is a wild-card. Hank tells his brother he should move the body back to its original position in the plane, but in truth he's placing some of the money back. While Jacob is guarding their car pretending they've had a flat, Hank goes back to the plane wreckage. An old man comes by the car looking for a fox. He claims that Jacob should have seen the fox but Jacob begins arguing and thinks their cover has been blown. He then bludgeons the old man. And from there everything starts to get more complicated."A Simple Plan" is a good ironic title for a very compelling film but certainly not for all tastes. It's Gothic noir in the snow, and if there's any chance Red Snow Noir could be a sub-genre, this would certainly be a viable candidate. The standout performance has to be Billy Bob Thornton as the not-so-bright brother. He doesn't know when to keep mum about the plane and the money and keeps exposing little secrets about their doings to different people. Everything he does is in character. Thornton doesn't play Jacob "too stupid" but stupid enough that the characters keep getting in deeper in the proverbial red snow. His indiscretions will have tragic consequences. This is also probably the best character-driven film directed by Sam Raimi of "Evil" Dead fame. All around an underrated film noir which is worth a second look.

This is a well directed, scripted and acted good solid thriller. If you are in the mood to be entertained for a couple of hours then this will be the ticket.It isn't innovative or genre-redefining or anything like that. It is a conservative film in many ways but although I love innovative cinema sometimes you just want the honest entertainment that you have here.This has some great twists and turns. It plays on the emotions very cleverly. It does deliver on the thrills.

Sam Raimi's snowbound thriller is quite simply one of his best films, up there with the first two EVIL DEAD movies in terms of entertainment value. It's also the director's most mature film, a piece which shows that he has progressed in the last twenty years - unlike John Carpenter, who has alternatively been going downhill since then! The plot of this film constantly twists and turns all over the place, offering plenty of scenes brimming with tension and suspense.Like most gems these day, this was missed by audiences who were probably lured into watching the latest no-brain blockbuster instead of this classic. It's a real shame when talent is ignored by mainstream audiences, especially when the film in question is so darned good. Raimi makes the most of his chilly locations, offering up the same kind of isolated cold as found in FARGO, and also works wonders with a relatively small cast. Bill Paxton is engaging as the everyman who becomes embroiled in murder and is forced to kill multiple people; Paxton may not be a brilliant actor but I've always enjoyed his performances. However, the real shining star here is Billy Bob Thornton, who gives an accurate and moving portrayal of Jacob, Paxton's simple brother who is unable to cope with the complex lies he is forced to tell.The rest of the cast all do very good jobs, with a surprising turn from Bridget Fonda as Paxton's wife who is just as corrupt as her husband. Gary Cole also gets to silently brood and strip wallpaper with his baleful eyes in a thoroughly nasty turn. You might be mistaken for thinking this is typical family fare, but it's not, and things get very dark when people start dying. But the film's greatest achievement is slowly creating the people on screen and giving life to them in character-building scenes which really make us care and feel concern. Quite simply, this is one of the best thrillers I've seen of the decade, and I can't recommend it any more highly.

The setting of rural snow-locked Minnesota is established early. Foxes and chickens of the land flash across the screen, much like the ill omen of the raven does later on when these simple lives come across a stash of 4.4 million. Hank and his dimwitted brother Jacob and friend Lou set off into the snow to hunt for this fox. It is a shame that there is not a greater sense of community instilled into the setting as a small rural town would have, because we then have to rely on the performance of Paxton and the words of his wife when she says that he is a good man, and no one would ever believe him to be a murderer. The actors do a great deal of the lifting. There is natural conflict between their demeanours, and that is escalated when they come across the crash site. We are led to believe that Hank is a man of good moral standing and virtue. Not many would say no to millions, but he initially does, and has to be coaxed. His wife also does, giggling at what is a clearly impossible occurrence and adamantly stating that it would be stealing and the wrong thing to do. Their life is fine, and comfortable. Later on, her teary eyed monologue demolishes that notion, but the great strength of these characters is that we are able to sympathise and understand both scenarios and their merits, and how money has twisted their expectations. Fonda's performance is fantastic; almost as soon as she sets sight on the pile of cash, the gears begin to turn in her head and she descends into a path of action that will leave her family for the better. Hank lets the air out of a tire with a cheeky smile, and the brothers chuckle at their little deception, not even considering what they will be capable of later. The other great performance belongs to Billy Bob Thornton, whom is initially regarded as dumb and incompetent by both audience and older brother. He blurts out guilty clues and in panic whacks a man in the head, but unlike Hank, these acts aren't cold and calculated, but acts of desperation and motivation to protect his brother (who by all accounts shares no sincere feelings of affection, but only a last name). In one confrontation, there are two levels of pretense happening, the drunken ramblings of Lou, and the battle between the two brothers as they argue over the morality of framing him for the murder, and it becomes a tense see-sawing of his affiliation. Hank tries to appeal by bringing up their deceased father, and Jacob brusquely and rightfully shuts him down. In a later moment, he soberly reminisces on a a prank played on him by his high school 'girlfriend' (and again we see how out of touch Hank is with his brother) and Jacob makes it heartbreaking because of how easy he seems to take it, and how there are no hard feelings. Thornton is much like his dog; loyal, and sometimes dumb, but it is via the good of his heart. And we see in this monologue just how little he lives for, and that gives us a little solace when his end comes. The Coens gave tips to Raimi on how to film in the snow, based on their experiences with Fargo. They are similar in many ways; both are about the greed and desire for monetary wealth, and how it warps people into doing despicable things. It is not as perfect as Fargo; in the latter the snowy setting is a character in itself, tripping and hindering and being admired all at the same time. The closest A Simple Plan gets would be the shot of the four diverging footprint paths in the snow, which signalled ominous danger up ahead. When has splitting up ever been a good idea? And I think in the tensest scene in the office, where a pleading Fonda on the phone offers no comfort as Hank is trapped in between two unsuspecting people, with guns. The best thing this film does is shepherded us alongside these characters, because no one can resist the allure of so much money. We yell and become frustrated when Jacob gives away the sighting of the plane, and shake our heads as the murders pile up, but still hope that the money remains unscathed, even as the family is corrupted. There is a real life parallel to this, in the alarming occurrence of lottery winners being bankrupt a few years on. How peaceful would their lives have been if that plane had never been uncovered? The damning of Hank and Sarah is so great that I do not think the script needs to further deal a cruel blow to them, by revealing that the bills were indeed marked (in addition to the logical explanation of this being so ridiculously and logistically impossible - how the hell does writing down thousands of serial numbers enable you to track bills). They have been punished enough, and dealt a harsh lesson.