Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Ah yes, nothing so simple as a simple plan. Except when unforeseen circumstances and unintended consequences get in the way. Each bump in the road is complicated by further ruts along the way until the whole enterprise ends in disaster.This was a well scripted and intense story ultimately pitting a trio of friends against each other over a significant amount of money, four point four million dollars to be exact. Well, two of the friends are brothers, intriguingly portrayed by Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton. Their drinking buddy is Lou (Brent Briscoe), and among the three of them, their combined IQ level just about approximates Hank's (Paxton) all by himself. Thornton's Jacob is perhaps a mental notch above that of Karl Childers in "Sling Blade", while Lou isn't much more than an unemployed red-neck with visions of the good life that his share of the loot can buy. With that as a starting point, events gradually take their twists and turns until spiraling into disaster for all of the principals and a few innocent bystanders as well. Along the way, one's own sense of morality and greed will be tested in the most unconventional of ways, and if you think you would do any better, well I dare anyone to try.The only problem I had with the basic story was the idea that the plane that Hank, Jacob and Lou came across happened to crash land in proximity to their town without anyone ever knowing about it. Given that as a premise, it would have made it much too coincidental for a guy like Baxter (Gary Cole) to show up impersonating a law officer in order to get his hands on the loot that went down with the plane. Earlier in the story, I was also rather amazed that Hank and Jacob would attempt to frame Lou with that role play scenario with the tape recorder. Like Lou wouldn't have had an idea of his own to protect himself?For a while now, my personal list of 'Top Ten Movies You Never Heard Of'' has been missing a final entry, but this one came along today to complete the lineup. It joins such commendable films as "Nobody's Fool", "The Milagro Beanfield War", "Harold and Maude" and "Secondhand Lions". The ones I've mentioned have to do with entirely different subjects, but in the realm of robbery and murder, this one best exemplifies the idea that crime costs more than it pays.

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.

Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan works – just. There's no denying it's a gripping thriller, but it lacked one element which could have made it not just a good film – which it is – but a great film: the characters from the off are too sketchily drawn. We don't get to know them before it all kicks off and so their development – and the story's development – is taken more on trust than it should be. That's it really. Should you see it? Certainly, and you will not be disappointed. It's just that I feel it doesn't quite hang together as well as it might have done had the film been just a little longer with opening scenes establishing the four main characters more.