Boy I sure wish I'd been on the Paramount lot night before last for the first look at one of the kings of cool filmmaking latest film. Of course I'm talking about Sam Raimi, and his film A SIMPLE PLAN. You remember the reports about the filming up in Ash, Wisconson. (I'm still laughing at the concept of Raimi shooting in a town named Ash...) Well it seems that at least this person really thought the film was something extra special. Cool, I sure hope so, I'll be keeping close tabs on this one...
There was no small amount of deception on the Paramount lot last night -- first off, I was called to attend a screening of "Payback", but what I got was Sam Raimi's latest, "A Simple Plan" (or "An Unknown Film" as I termed it waiting in the line). But all test screenings are crap shoots, so I took this switcheroo in stride.
The second deception was my own - signing a little piece of brown paper stating that I wouldn't divulge my opinion of the film to anybody on any electronic media.
Yeah, right.
I try to justify my subterfuge this way: I have a problem with people spreading their bile after test screenings. Until a film has been released, its in its most fragile sate, and even the dopiest of comments from the most moronic of people can screw up the best of films. If what I saw last night had been a film in any sort of trouble, I wouldn't have bothered with this review. I truly believe that the primary function of a film critic is to be an advocate for great filmmaking, and if you don't have anything nice to say about what is -- essentially -- a rehearsal, well, you should just fill out your little card and wait and see what happens. Filmmaking is hard enough without having to fight off all the smarmy assholes in the world.
So, I am happy to report that what I spied on last night is simply marvelous. Its not perfect, and God, Dear God above, I hope the audience I viewed it with doesn't screw it up worse than it is, because the last thing this film needs is even more conventional thinking.
You see, it's a Sam Raimi film. And the version I saw last night is the best film Sam Raimi has ever made. There will be many who disagree with me on that point -- the Evil Dead films are Holy Relics to some people - but this film is unlike anything witnessed before from the creative force behind such camp icons as Ash and Zeena: Warrior Princess. Its a genre film - and we all know Sam is no stranger to genre - but its a quiet and taut little "winter noir" that owes more than a little to the Coen Brothers, with one important distinction I'll get too later.
Indeed, many of the annoying marketing hacks were quick to wonder if we - the great unwashed - had seen "Fargo". Well, yes, I have seen "Fargo", and yes, it would be completely disingenuous of me to not say that similarities between "Fargo" and this film sprang up in my mind a number of times. But I've also seen "Double Indemnity", "The Third Man", "The Lady from Shanghai", "The Wrong Man", "Touch of Evil", "Blood Simple", etc. etc. etc. So we're not talking major "Fargo-ian" plagiarism here - its more like variations on a theme, again with that one important distinction.
In fact, walking out of the screening the first film that sprang to mind was "GoodFellas" - in that film, there is a small bit devoted to what happens when the gang rolls an airport and makes off with millions of dollars. The only thing that keeps them from getting caught is human nature. Just when everyone should be laying low, our trio has to sit by helplessly and watch as their cohorts do everything they shouldn't..."A Simple Plan" is that sequence strecthed over two hours.
But that's not what Raimi and his screenwriter(s?) are really after. The focus of the film is what happens to people in times of crisis - that truism about how their true natures are revealed. I'll never forget a moment just minutes after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. As one of my ex-roommates and myself left our destroyed 2nd floor apartment and stepped out into a pitch black hallway, I turned left to go check on some friends of mine. This ex-roommate said - panicked - "What are you doing!?!" and I said, "I'm going to check on Ann and Jerry." This normally sane and considerate chap responded, "@#$* Ann and Jerry, we gotta get out of here!" I couldn't believe my ears, and went ahead to Ann and Jerry's apartement, with this guy in tow. We helped them out, and later, sitting outside in the early morning light, waiting for the aftershocks, Ann and Jerry thanked us for coming to them. This ex-roommate says to them, "Yeah, you guys were the first thing we thought about..."
Those moments are what "A Simple Plan" is about - how a giant event can peel back the layers of a person's character like an onion, one after the other - until only the core of who they are remains.
The plot concerns two brothers, Hank and Jacob, played beautifully by Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton. Hank and Jacob and their layabout alcoholic friend Lou accidentally come across a plane buried in a forest snowdrift. Inside that plane is a dead body - and $4.4 million dollars in unmarked hundered dollar bills. Hank (Paxton) is the sensible center of the trio, and his first thought is to turn the money in, and maybe fetch a reward. For Lou, this is his only shot at ever having a dime in his life. Poor Jacob (Thornton) is caught between the two, but he has hopes and dreams of his own, and he is more than willing to go along with Hank's "simple plan" of how to proceed to keep the money. Hank will hold the money - ALL of the money. He doesn't trust Lou and Jacob with the cash, because he knows they'll start spending it (it seems he's seen "GoodFellas", too). He'll hold it until the plane is discovered by the authorities in the spring time, and when all the noise dies down, THEN they can split it up, and be off the hook. Lou and Jacob reluctantly agree with this plan...
And everything starts to go wrong almost immediately, in a wonderfully crafted procession of "oh, no" twists and turns, where discovery of the loot - and the actions Hank and Lou have taken to keep it concealed - are just a mere word away. Many things help this film rise above the ordinary -
Raimi's smart enough to know he's got an outstanding cast, and he lets them loose here with several scenes filled with chok-a-block improv. Billy Bob Thornton - instantly engaging and winning here as a lonely small-town loser - riffs almost through the whole film, almost to the point where it becomes impossible to tell where the script starts and the improv starts. The great little script is also welcome proof that, yes, it IS possible to create characters you care about, and that American Screenwriting isn't quite dead yet. The structure of the film remains completely plausible amidst the wild ride given to the characters, and at no time do the moments of high suspense feel forced, as in, say, "Basic Instinct" or the noir failures "Color of Night" and "Sliver". "A Simple Plan" is a suspense film not hinged on the notion of believable people doing unbelievable things. Its all plausible, and the credit has to go to the writers.
The entire cast is marvelous - they're all employed here to tell a story, and their ensemble work is a joy. Special mention has to go to Bill Paxton - he's an actor that, like Keanu, has been given a limited vocal range by the Fates, and this can be perceived by some as wooden delivery. He'll never do "Hamlet", but he makes the most of the instruments at his disposal, and he's become a very welcome face on the big screen. Here, in "A Simple Plan", he holds the film together with a character that is the living embodiment of that old saw about Americans living lives of quiet desperation. If you never had more than $40.00 in your pocket at any given time, and you had a new baby at home, and you came across millions in unmarked bills - well...let's just say that the quiet desperation might suddenly become less quiet.
Bridget Fonda also makes an outstanding turn as Paxton's pregnant wife, Sarah, who has secret thoughts and feelings about the choices she's made in life. These feelings come bubbling out in a great stinging monologue - to say anymore than that would ruin one of the best scenes in the movie.
Its really a excellent little film. I have a few quibbles. I know Raimi is in a hurry to get to the "story" as soon as possible, but we need a little more time with these people before they get to the money. The opening scenes play very choppy as we jump from person to person, we don't really get a sense of who they are. The actual location of the film is fuzzy - where are these people? Winterland? And - this is nitpicking of the highest order - rednecks in bars don't listen to Bonnie Raitt or The Cowboy Junkies. Only Hollywood Sound FX editors who need a country-sounding song they can actually tolerate listen to the Cowboy Junkies.
Also - this has NOTHING to do with the movie - but why in God's name do people think its cool to talk to the #@$*ing screen during suspense films, or think it necessary to try and guess out loud where a movie is going? Get a clue, people. Zip your lip.
Anyway, great effort by everyone involved. I have no idea of the audience for this movie - Its going to be a bitch to sell. Just doing my part to spread the Good News.
Oh, and Harry - you're absolutely right about Tea Leoni in Deep Impact - I don't think I've seen a more distracted and disinterested central performance from a lead actress in a movie -- ever. It just baffles me that a movie with that pedigree can be so flat emotionally, and I think alot of it is her underwritten character.
Oh yeah, that "one important distinction" between this and the Coen Bros. Its often been said that the Coen Bros. work is a little too clinical and cold, and at the center of their films are a lack of real emotion. I disagree, but anyway - "A Simple Plan" is dripping with emotion. Its got the dark humour of Coen's work, all right, but its also got heart. Buckets of heart, and this largely comes from the very moving relationship between Paxton and Thornton. They're both terrific, and Thornton's starting to become something of a national treasure.
Anyway, catch you guys later. Look for "A Simple Plan" whenever it makes its way into the world. I don't think it'll let you down.
Jim Travis out.
