A Simple Plan (1998)

Plot: Two brothers, Hank (Bill Paxton) and Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), find a bag full of cash in a crashed plane, and, together with Hank’s wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda), they plan to steal the stolen money for themselves.

I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to share with you one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. It’s right up there with Memento and The Talented Mr. Ripley in my mind. Those are the kinds of movies that scare me, by the way. It’s that whole accidental sociopath thing. I’m watching it, and I know exactly how it’s going to turn out, and that petrifies me. It’s not the violence, the gore, or the death; it’s the impact these things have on people, what drives them to act the way they do.

I think what truly makes these films so horrifying is the writer’s ability to make you identify with the accidental sociopath. In this case, it’s Scott B. Smith’s ability to make you feel like you would do the same or similar in the given circumstance. He’s playing on the whole American dream: you know, big house, nice job, beautiful wife. It’s almost as though he is saying to the audience, “Is it really so wrong to want to get ahead?” He’s taunting you, daring you to say you would never act this way.

N.B.: A psychopath is someone who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong. When a psychopath does something that society deems wrong, the person believes that s/he is doing the right thing. A sociopath, on the other hand, knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses wrong anyway.

Whatever happened to Paxton? I know he still makes movies, but I feel like he had a heyday back in there or was on the brink of one that never panned out. Same with Fonda. I think she’s awesome, but she hasn’t done anything in years. She’s beautiful and talented in a way that we don’t see too often any more. She can be transparent one minute and shadowed the next. Go ahead and look back on her early to mid-nineties heyday. I recommend singles, It Could Happen to You, and Bodies, Rest & Motion.

Can I just say this: Stupid Billy Bob Thornton. I don’t like him. I think he’s so annoyingly overrated, and I don’t like him in real life. Don’t get me wrong, he’s good. But he’s not that good. I’m sick of everyone swooning over his alleged talent. It’s clear to me that he gets a kick out of playing more subversive characters, but that doesn’t make him as impressive as the media makes him out to be.

I just talked about Sam Raimi, but let me just mention that he has a great eye for the detail of the everyday. There’s true tension and drama there, and Raimi gets it.

But, yeah, scary as all get-up. Watch out for this one.