When the legendary movie critic Roger Ebert raves about a film, it is typically a good quality indicator, and the esteemed, late journalist did so with Sam Raimi’s 1998 thriller A Simple Plan. A wise man once said the best way to keep a secret between three people is if two are dead. The age-old adage has never been more appropriate than in this overlooked gem. Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda star as salt-of-the-earth midwestern folks whose lives are turned upside down by a single fortunate event followed by a series of much more unfortunate ones. Gary Cole also co-stars in a wonderfully devilish turn as a stone-cold drug dealer and killer. Raimi deftly uses a small snowy town as the backdrop that ultimately becomes a character in its own right. After Hank (Paxton), Jacob (Thornton), and Lou (Brent Briscoe) stumble into over $4 million in cash, they have to make a decision that is far more complicated than just whether to keep it or not. With this, Raimi dives into the moral dilemmas each character must confront once the choice is made. Thornton, in particular, shines as the boozy, slow-witted brother who slowly becomes tortured by the ordeal.

What Is ‘A Simple Plan’ About?

You’re out in a snowy forest with a couple of friends and accidentally come across a small plane that has crashed. The pilot is dead, and there is a duffel bag filled with stacks of cash. What do you do? It’s not stealing if you’re taking it from someone who acquired it illegally, right? In A Simple Plan, that is the rationale that leads to the men making a fateful decision. It’s surely enough money for Hank, Sarah (Fonda), Jacob, and Lou to leave their ho-hum and tedious lives behind, start anew, and never have to worry about money again. Not to mention that Hank and Sarah have a new baby and barely make ends meet the way things are.

The group decides, ultimately, to keep the cash, which turns out to be a mistake that leads to a litany of evil deeds, including deception and, eventually, a string of brutal murders. Millions of dollars doesn’t just disappear without someone coming to look for it, after all. By the time the drug kingpin Baxter (Cole) comes calling to retrieve his ill-gotten money, several have died to keep their secret, and it appears that the two brothers and the avuncular local sheriff, Carl (Chelcie Ross), are next. What seems to be a blessing in disguise for them quickly devolves into a fight to survive.

Sam Raimi Studies Moral Dilemmas and Human Nature in ‘A Simple Plan’

We have all asked ourselves what we would do if we had a million bucks, right? The hypothetical plays with human emotions and the inherent greed that resides within the majority of humans. Raimi, who has made his name in terrific horror films and superhero-based action thrillers, uses A Simple Plan to study how our avarice can cloud better judgment and bring out the worst in us. What’s more, he uses four very different types of people as case studies of how greed changes them, which broadens his study and overall thesis.

Hank is the clean-cut, college-educated, 9-to-5 type who has settled down with a beautiful wife and baby. He is the most upstanding and trustworthy of the three men, and the trio decides that he will hold onto the cash until the heat dies down so they can leave the town behind. However, he quickly becomes influenced by Sarah and her uncontrollable greed. Jacob is irresponsible, and his lack of direction is surpassed only by his lack of direction and intellect. It becomes a problem when he realizes Hank is about to leave him behind. Lou is an unscrupulous and reckless town drunk who doesn’t trust Hank and refuses to show patience and follow the plan.

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Billy Bob Thornton as Jacob is arguably the finest performance of his long and decorated career. He has shined in various roles across several genres, but his take on the hapless, emotionally stunted man-child in A Simple Plan is why people go to the movies. He completely immerses himself in the toothy, haggard boozer with a golden heart but lacking the brains to match it. He is only smart enough to understand that he can’t seem to get it together and have a meaningful life or relationship. Thornton’s face combines this frustration with puerile joviality but, ultimately, a sad loneliness. The solid performances alone are more than enough reason to watch the 120-minute escape in a movie that sucks the audience in with relatable ethical quandaries and taut suspense worthy of an artist like Raimi. It would be of your best interest to take the esteemed Roger Ebert’s advice and indulge in this one.

A Simple Plan follows Hank Mitchell, his brother Jacob, and Jacob’s friend Lou, who stumble upon a crashed plane containing over $4 million in cash in the snowy woods of rural Minnesota. They decide to keep the money, believing it to be from a drug deal gone wrong. Their plan unravels as paranoia and greed lead to escalating conflicts, murders, and a tragic climax where Hank is forced to something dreadful.  Release Date December 11, 1998 Runtime 121 Minutes

A Simple Plan is now available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

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