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A Simple Plan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sam Raimi
Screenplay by	Scott B. Smith
Produced by	James Jacks Adam Schroeder
Starring	Bill Paxton Billy Bob Thornton Bridget Fonda
Cinematography	Alar Kivilo
Edited by	Arthur Coburn Eric L. Beason
Music by	Danny Elfman
Production companies	Mutual Film Company Savoy Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	September 12, 1998 (1998-09-12) (TIFF) December 11, 1998 (1998-12-11) (limited)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$17 million
Box office	$16,316,273 (domestic)

A Simple Plan is a 1998 American thriller film, and an adaptation of the 1993 novel of the same name by Scott B. Smith, who also wrote the screenplay. Directed by Sam Raimi, the film stars Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda. Set in rural Minnesota, A Simple Plan follows Hank Mitchell (Paxton) and his brother Jacob (Thornton), who, along with Jacob's friend Lou (Brent Briscoe), discover a crashed plane containing $4.4 million in cash. Their attempts to keep the money for themselves and a secret from local authorities result in conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust.

Development of a film adaptation began in 1993 before the novel was published. Mike Nichols purchased the film rights before the project was picked up by an independent film studio, Savoy Pictures. However, after Nichols stepped down, the film adaptation became mired in development hell, with Ben Stiller and John Dahl turning down opportunities to helm the film. Savoy's bankruptcy resulted in the project being sold to Paramount Pictures, and after John Boorman turned down directing duties, the studio hired Raimi to direct the film. Principal photography began in January 1998 and concluded in March after 55 days; filming took place in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

A Simple Plan premiered at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival. It was later given a limited release on December 11, 1998, before opening in wide release on January 22, 1999. The film underperformed at the North American box office, grossing $16.3 million against a $17 million budget. but was met with mostly positive reviews from mainstream film critics. A Simple Plan received two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Thornton) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Smith).

Plot

Hank Mitchell and his pregnant wife, Sarah, live in rural Minnesota. Hank, one of the town's few college graduates, works in a feed mill, while his wife is a librarian. Hank's brother, Jacob, is a dim-witted fellow. When Hank, Jacob, and Jacob's friend, Lou, chase a fox into the woods, they find a crashed airplane. The pilot is dead and the only cargo is a bag containing $4.4 million in $100 bills.

Hank suggests turning the money in, but is persuaded not to by Jacob and Lou. Hank's condition is that he keep the money safe at his house and no one spends anything until winter ends and everyone moves away when they divvy up the cash. All agree to keep the discovery a secret. When they return to their vehicle, Carl, the sheriff, appears and Hank nervously talks to him while Jacob mentions hearing a plane in the area. Hank breaks the pact when he reveals the discovery to his wife, who is overjoyed.

When Hank and Jacob return to the plane to put some of the money back as part of a larger plan to avoid suspicion, they come across an old man on a snowmobile. Jacob, thinking their cover is blown, bludgeons the man. When the man regains consciousness and asks for the police, Hank suffocates him in order to make it look like an accidental death. Jacob reneges on his promise to move away during the summer, and tells his brother about his intention to buy his father's farm with his share of the money. Hank thinks that his brother is being ridiculous as neither of them knows anything about farming.

Lou drunkenly demands some of the money from Hank, because he has spent recklessly since the discovery and needs cash fast. Hank refuses and Lou threatens to tell the authorities about the old man's death. Hank and Jacob team up against Lou. Lou, drunk and enraged that the two conspired against him, pulls a gun on the two brothers. Jacob kills Lou to save his brother, and then Hank kills Lou's wife when she appears, firing another gun. Hank concocts a plan as to what to tell the police to avoid arrest. The plan works, thanks to Hank's solid reputation in the community and Jacob's rehearsed speech to the police. Jacob tells Hank that this whole turn of events is wearing on him and that he "feels evil".

Later, the sheriff calls Hank and tells him that an FBI agent, Neil Baxter, has arrived, looking for a plane that might have crashed in the area. Because Jacob mentioned a plane earlier, the sheriff asks the brothers to assist in the search. Sarah is skeptical and discovers that Baxter is an impostor. Hank goes with him in order to protect Carl, but brings a gun with him just in case. The sheriff, Baxter, Hank, and Jacob split up and head into the woods. When they find the plane, Baxter pulls a gun, kills the sheriff, and tells Hank that he is looking for the money. Hank manages to kill Baxter with the gun he brought. When Jacob arrives, Hank starts to concoct another story to tell the authorities, but Jacob announces he does not want to live with these bad memories, and will shoot himself to end it. He encourages Hank to kill him instead and frame Baxter for the crime, so that Hank can tell any story he wants. After grappling with the decision, Hank kills Jacob, and starts sobbing.

At the police station, Hank tells his story to real FBI agents. As Sarah predicted, no one would believe that Hank, seen as an upstanding member of the community would be capable of such wrongdoing, and he is cleared. But he is told that the money was part of a ransom, and before it was delivered, many of the bills' serial numbers were written down to track the cash. Hank realizes he cannot use the money without being caught. He goes home and burns it all. He and Sarah go back to their old lives and Hank reflects on their losses.

Cast

• Bill Paxton as Hank Mitchell
• Billy Bob Thornton as Jacob Mitchell
• Bridget Fonda as Sarah Mitchell
• Brent Briscoe as Lou Chambers
• Gary Cole as Neil Baxter
• Jack Walsh as Tom Butler
• Chelcie Ross as Sheriff Carl Jenkins
• Becky Ann Baker as Nancy Chambers

Production

Development

After Scott B. Smith had published a short story for The New Yorker, the magazine's fiction editor learned of his then-unpublished novel A Simple Plan before reading it and forwarding it to an agent. Shortly thereafter, Smith learned that Mike Nichols was interested in purchasing the film rights to his novel. Nichols spent a weekend reading the book, before contacting Smith's agent, and finalizing a deal the following Monday morning. Nichols purchased the rights for his production company Icarus Productions for $250,000, with an additional $750,000 to come later from a studio interested in pursuing the project. Smith’s manuscript of A Simple Plan was optioned for development at an independent film studio, Savoy Pictures. However, due to scheduling conflicts with a planned film adaptation of All the Pretty Horses, Nichols stepped down from the project.

Ben Stiller later joined the project, and spent nine months working on the script with Smith. During preproduction, however, Stiller had a falling out with Savoy over budget disputes—among them was how Savoy’s reported $4 million offer to Nicolas Cage would affect the film’s budget. Stiller explained, ”The problem was Savoy. I don’t think they had a good understanding of how to make films happen.” Stiller left the project, and in January 1995, John Dahl was announced to helm the film, with filming likely start during the following summer in the southern hemisphere or in Canada during the following winter. Dahl later left the project, and Savoy was sold to businessman Barry Diller, who put A Simple Plan up for sale.

The project was purchased by Paramount Pictures, where studio executive Scott Rudin hired John Boorman to direct the film. Boorman cast Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton in the lead roles of Hank and Jacob Mitchell, respectively. Paramount however refused to fully finance the $17 million production, and Boorman left the project.

A Simple Plan soon became a co-production between Paramount and Mutual Film Company. Mutual co-financed the film with Newmarket Capital Group, while Paramount held the North American distribution rights. Savoy Pictures received screen credit. Paramount then hired Sam Raimi to direct the film. Raimi saw A Simple Plan as an opportunity to direct a character-driven story that different from earlier works, which were highly stylized or dependent on intricate camera movements. "This is a change of pace for me because the film is not about shots, but the performance within the frame," he said. "I wanted the camera work to be invisible and just allow the actors to tell this very thrilling story." Smith said of Raimi, "I wasn't familiar with Sam's other work, but I met with him, and in talking to him I was very pleased. I felt like he understood the story. He understood the people. We grew up in the same area of the country. He knew what I was writing about and he knew how to tell the story in the right way." In December 1997, Bridget Fonda was cast as Hank's wife Sarah Mitchell.

Writing

"Ben really taught me how to write a script. I don’t know that he ever explicitly said it, but by imagining the script as a verbal description of a movie, the movie that I wanted the book to be. That’s very simple, but it really was the key to everything for me—just imagining what was on the page. I was shortchanging the visual in my script, concentrating on dialogue, which I imagine is a very common first-time screenwriter’s mistake, and to suddenly just do it visually opened up everything for me."

The original script that Smith had written for Nichols was 256 pages long, the equivalent of a four-and-a-half hour film. Smith said of the experience, "I wrote a horrible, amateurish draft...which I think scared away from the project." Following publication of A Simple Plan, Nichols eventually turned down the project during the script's early draft stages. As he continued work on the script, Smith kept Nichols's suggested story setting: Because snow plays a crucial role, the film adaptation would be shot in Minnesota, rather than in Ohio, where the book is set. When Ben Stiller became involved, he and Smith spent nine months rewriting the script. Smith explained, "Ben was the one that showed me how to write a script. He worked with me and gave me the cue to visualize the movie and write down what I was picturing in my head."

For the film adaptation, certain visual changes were made from the novel. Smith explained that one change involved Lou "throwing snowball to uncover the plane for one. In the book, they're just walking and they find it." Scott Rudin wanted to change the focus of the story to the two brothers; he ordered Smith to shorten the screenplay to 120 pages. Smith explained, "I had to work to make Hank a more rational character, less evil." The shortening of the script also resulted in the character of Sarah having a smaller role, and Jacob getting to live longer (in the book, Jacob dies in a shootout at Lou's house). After the role was secured by Billy Bob Thornton, Smith omitted the character's overweight appearance from the novel. Smith described the film adaptation as being less violent than the book: "The book is much more violent than the movie, more graphic in its violence. It was 's choice to be more restrained, to bring out the characters."

Filming

Principal photography

Principal photography for A Simple Plan began on January 5, 1998, and concluded on March 13, 1998 after 55 days. Filming was scheduled to begin in Delano, Minnesota, but due to climatic changes as the result of El Niño, the production was forced to temporarily relocate to northern Wisconsin to find the snow levels described in the script. Filming began in Ashland, Wisconsin, where most of the film's exterior shots, and the the road and woods near where the characters find the plane, were shot. An actual plane, with one side cut open, was used to depict the crashed aircraft. Patrizia Von Brandenstein was the film's production designer, marking her second collaboration with Raimi, after The Quick and the Dead. Brandenstein found the weather conditions difficult during production, as she had to await good weather to complete the necessary exterior work. Describing the overall look of the film, she said, "We created a muted black-and-white color scheme to suggest a morality tale, the choices given between right and wrong."

The production team then returned to Minnesota, but still found themselves plagued by a lack of snow. To solve this problem, the production team worked with the special effects department to create a combination of real snow and fake synthetic snow that was made from shaved ice. The interiors of the crashed plane, as well as Hank and Sarah's home were created and filmed on soundstages at Energy Park Studios in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The home of Lou Chambers (Brent Briscoe) was an abandoned house located in Delano.

Cinematography

Upon reading the script, director of photography Alar Kivilo contacted his agent to arrange a meeting with Raimi. Kivilo's first meeeting with Raimi occurred only three weeks prior to filming. His inspiration for the look of the film came from photographs that were shot during location scouting in Delano, Minnesota. He described the photographs as being "very stark, with white snow and black trees. They were very hard-contrast, and reminded me of Japanese wood-cut prints, with very simple and graphic images...this film was a big departure for Sam , who is really known for his crazy camera moves and wild perspectives. We both decided early on that his usual style wouldn't be right for this story."

Kivilo originally wanted to shoot the film in widescreen, using the anamorphic format. "Sam and I had talked briefly in the beginning about going anamorphic," he explained, "but because of the lack of prep time, a restricted budget and lack of lenses availabile, we decided against it." Kivilo used a Panavision Platinum camera with the company's Primo series of prime lenses to shoot the film. He used Eastman Kodak 5246 250ASA Vision film stock for all of the daylight scenes and tungsten-balanced 5279 Vision 500T film stock for the night scenes.

Despite the intense weather conditions, Kivilo believed that the overcast skies created a "gray, somber, stark look." He also chose not to use any lighting for daytime exterior scenes. For exterior scenes shot during sunnier filming days, computer-generated imagery was used to create overcast skies.

The home of Lou Chambers and his wife Nancy (Becky Ann Baker) was filmed in an abandoned house in Delano, which Kivilo described as "a very difficult location very low ceilings and no heating, so we were all bundled up in parkas. Because the performances were so intense, Sam wanted to shoot the scene with at least two cameras, and sometimes three. Lighting for three cameras is a significant compromise, but it was one I was willing to make to lessen the emotional load on the actors." In depicting the resulting shootout, Kivilo's intent was to "keep things quite sketchy in the lighting and not be clear about exactly what was happening." The camera department lit a China ball from the ceiling to depict a dimly lit kitchen light that would reveal Nancy holding a shotgun. Flash photography guns were used to depict the muzzle flashes. Kivilo said, "Those flash guns are great because they have a long burn time and you don't run the danger of having the flash occur between exposures. The flashes were daylight-balanced, but we put double CTO on them to give them a slightly warmer feel. This was something that we had determined through testing in preproduction."

Music and soundtrack

A Simple Plan's film score was produced and composed by Danny Elfman, who was drawn to the project after learning that Raimi would be directing the film. The film marked their their third collaboration as composer and director, respectively. The instruments included alto and bass flutes, re-tuned pianos and banjos, zithers, and hand drums.

Regarding the tonal quality of the score, Elfman explained, "...there are 2 thematic areas, one of them was a flute ensemble. It was a fun orchestra for me to work with because there was really no brass, no percussion. It was just stings and flutes, lots of flutes, 9 of them, mostly alto and bass. That was kind of a fun different thing, very, very simple, sparse ensemble led by alto and bass flutes. The other part of it these specially tuned pianos that I prepared before I started and specially tuned banjos so I worked the music around the sounds of these micro-tuned piano chords and special banjo samples that I did myself. I tried to make the heart of it. Starting with these two odd tonal groups, I started composing the score." The soundtrack album, titled A Simple Plan: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released on January 26, 1999.

Release

A Simple Plan premiered at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 1998. On December 11, 1998, A Simple Plan opened in limited release at 31 theaters. The film grossed $390,563—an average of $12,598 per theater—in its first week of release. More theaters were added during the limited run, and on January 22, 1999, the film officially entered wide release by screening in 660 theaters across North America. The film ended its North American theatrical run on May 14, 1999, having grossed $16,316,273, well below its estimated production budget of $17 million.

In North America, A Simple Plan was released on VHS and DVD formats on June 22, 1999. These home video releases were undertaken by Paramount Home Entertainment. The DVD presents the film in widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The DVD's only special feature was the film's theatrical trailer.

Criticial response

A Simple Plan has received mostly positive reviews from mainstream film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes sampled 67 reviews, and gave the film a "Certified Fresh" score rating of 90%, with an average score of 8.2 out of 10. The website's consensus calls the film "A riveting crime thriller full of emotional tension." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 28 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, called A Simple Plan "one of the year's best films for a lot of reasons, including its ability to involve the audience almost breathlessly in a story of mounting tragedy." Ebert and his colleague, Gene Siskel, gave the film a "Two Thumbs Up" rating on their syndicated television program Siskel and Ebert and the Movies. Ebert later ranked A Simple Plan at number four on his list of the "Best Films of 1998". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the film was "lean, elegant, and emotionally complex -- a marvel of backwoods classicism." Online film critic James Berardinelli praised Billy Bob Thornton's performance as being "the most striking that A Simple Plan has to offer." Berardinelli also praised the other performers, writing "Paxton's part is deceptively complex in the way he shows how paranoia, greed, and deception can erode the conscience of even the best-intentioned of men. Brent Briscoe plays Lou as the most untrustworthy and avaricious of souls. And Bridget Fonda offers solid support as a woman who stands by her man - when she's not taking control of his life, that is."

Raimi was repeatedly praised for his direction. Gleiberman wrote that A Simple Plan was "proof that Raimi, after the splatterific Evil Dead series and the lushly operatic Darkman, has now grown into a filmmaker of ravishing maturity and skill." Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the film a "quietly devastating thriller directed by ...who makes a flawless segue into mainstream storytelling." Edward Guthmann of for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "...for Raimi, whose mastery of visual effects has driven all of his previous films, "A Simple Plan" marks a tremendously successful break from the past. He's drawn lovely, complex performances from Paxton and Thornton and proven that he can work effectively -- and movingly -- in a minor emotional key." A Simple Plan received comparisons to the Joel and Ethan Coen's earlier film Fargo (1996). Ebert noted that the Coens, who were Raimi's friends "gave advice him about shooting and lighting in the snow." Glenn Lovell of Variety wrote that "Both are slices of life about outlandish crimes and Average Joe felons in over their heads, and both blend Grand Guignol and beautiful but foreboding snowscapes...The key differences are in emphasis and tone: Fargo is deadpan noir; A Simple Plan...is a more robust Midwestern Gothic that owes as much to Poe as Chandler."

While reviews of the film were mostly positive, A Simple Plan was not without its detractors. Schlomo Schwartzberg of Boxoffice wrote, "Instead of unfolding as a subtle, powerful delineation of quiet desperation warping and destroying people's lives through greed, A Simple Plan clutters up the story with unnecessary acts of violence and murder, and mainly stays on the surface, offering little more than cheap jolts of melodrama."

Accolades

A Simple Plan garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with particular praise for its screenplay by Scott B. Smith and Billy Bob Thornton's performance. At the 71st Academy Awards, Thornton received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but lost against James Coburn, who received the award for his performance in Affliction. Smith received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to Bill Condon, who won for Gods and Monsters. In addition to the following list of awards and nominations, A Simple Plan was named one of the "Top Ten Films" of 1998 by the National Board of Review.

Notes

1. Thornton was one of two winners of the award, the other being Bill Murray, who was nominated for Rushmore.

References

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External links

• A Simple Plan at IMDb
• A Simple Plan at Box Office Mojo
• A Simple Plan at Rotten Tomatoes

• 1998 films
• 1990s crime drama films
• American crime drama films
• English-language films
• Films based on thriller novels
• Films directed by Sam Raimi
• Films set in Minnesota
• Paramount Pictures films
• Films shot in Minnesota
• Films shot in Wisconsin
• Film scores by Danny Elfman
• Neo-noir