This film is something of an anomaly in my syllabus. Every film I've shown thus far comes with an elegant pedigree. In other words, I've shown all films that carry tremendous weight, either by virtue of reputation, director, star, awards, etc. But, "A Simple Plan" has no such gravitas. It was not a big hit, won no awards, has some names in it, but they won't point to this film as the high point of their career. And yet, there's a lot here and I think it stands tall on its merits. And the very fact that it has no pretentions to greatness adds to my admiration.
I think the performances are excellent. You might find my next statement surprising. I think Brigit Fonda gives the strongest performance in the film. The look of evil in her face as she instructs her husband on the next step in the "plan" is worthy of Lady MacBeth herself.
I wonder if any of you were struck, as I was, at the sheer awfulness of the scene when her new baby is brought to her. Here is perhaps the single most exciting and transcendent moment in the life of a woman, the moment when she is introduced to her first child. What an incredible experience, to hold your first child for the first time, the baby that has emerged from your own body. To look into the face of that new person, and see there all the mystery and power of life. To wonder what the years have in store as this unformed ... well you get the point. And instead of thinking about any of that stuff, she is ignoring the child and obsessively planning the next stage of her destruction.
Of course there's no backing out now.
I think you'll like the rest.
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Mr. Bennett, a film need not win every single academy award in order to be deemed worthy of watching. Although it certainly helps I have never seen any movie you have shown this year on my own and I have only heard of All Quiet and Seventh Seal becasue of AP American history and Citizen Kane and Signs.
ReplyDeleteI would like to revise my statement that I would take the 4.4 million in the forset. I would only take the cash if I found it by myself. If I happen to stumble across it with people who are too stupid to make good on an opportunity like this (Lou/Jacob)then I would turn it in to Johnny Law.
So far I find A Simple Plan rather enjoyable and thrilling. I was really hanging on the edge of my seat when the bell tolled.
Certainly it was quite ridiculous to see Sarah react as she did. You see hank say that the baby is hungry and as the wife holds the baby in her arms you figure she's going to feed it as would be the first priority of any new mother. But no...she can't stop thinking about the money and she plots a viscous plan with an angelic newborn in her arms. This brings a rather ironic image into the film and reemphasizes the power of guilt and destruction that the money has brought upon all the characters involved.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I have to disagree with your assessment Mr Bennett. Although I agree about how Bridget Fonda's character has become an evil schemer, I don't find her to be particularly great in this film. The only performance I'm really enjoying is that of Billy Bob Thornton.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I have a general bias against this film because of Bill Paxton. I cannot stand Bill Paxton. I don't know why, but I do. I've seen him in a few things, and I've just never liked him. Do you know how sometimes you meet somebody and your first thought is "I wanna punch this guy in the face"? That's how I feel about Bill Paxton. There is just something about the way he looks that pisses me off.
Director Sam Raimi, who is famous for the recent Spiderman trilogy and the cult classic Evil Dead trilogy, has shown he does have actual ability when it comes to directing a dramatic film such as this. This is much different than those films, which were superhero films and splatstick films, respectively. My only criticism of Raimi is that he's kind of overusing the whole "crow" image. Once or twice, having a crow on screen is fine, but he is just throwing them on screen with no subtlety. It's just like he's saying,"LOOK AT THIS CROW HERE! CROWS ARE SYMBOLIC! DID YOU KNOW THAT!? WELL YOU DO NOW!!" Other than that I'd say Raimi is the actual star of this film.
I was actually pretty surprised at the wife, but I feel like I've seen her in other movies playing the role of a psychopath or something of the sort. The hair and the way shes so simple is a definite time bomb. I originally thought that she was going to be the righteous one, but she turned out to be the worst in the bunch. Characters, and people, like her often annoy me. They are always the ones who have all the advice in the world and never do anything themselves. What I disliked most was when she tried to make her husband feel guilty that her daughter would be wearing "hand me downs." It annoys me to think that she would have felt like that if he never stumbled upon that money and wouldn't have said anything. Him finding that money was a total coincidence, it could have happened to anyone. It was no gift, it was a curse. I would never trust anyone who suddenly can come up with so many reasons why being wealthy/rich would save them from another day of "putting a fake smile on." She was fine all the way up until now. And then she puts him through a guilt trip. And why didn't she suggest trying to get a better job so that she can change her lifestyle. I think this was a great example of how selfish people can really be when put under pressure.
ReplyDeleteI really like Jacob's character. He's a sort of an ambiguous character that actually responds to his actions. he feels remorse over killing someone, and doesn't act rationally but is genuinely distraught over what he did. The rest of the characters are so practical and shadow Jacob.
I am pleased that you noticed the scene where Sarah lectures her husband on the misery of middle class life. I'm not sure "selfish" is the right word for it, though. Since Sarah is a fictional character, we can never know her, but we do know one thing, namely that she is the classic noir victim. Tempted by greed and led unwittingly into crime.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question for you. Do you think she was aware of her fake smile, the horror of not being able to afford deserts in fancy restaurants etc. before they found the money? After all, we all wear fake smiles and most of us have to sacrifice our pleasures. But, we see it as part of life, and not necessarily a bad one.
You hit the nail on the head when you noticed that nobody talks about just getting a better job. Hank is a college grad and he works in a feed store? One would think he could do better than that if he tried. Nice comment. You could have made it a post of your own. In fact, why don't you do that after we finish up tomorrow. You may want to add a paragraph when you see the ending.
To answer the question Mr. Bennett posed, no, the wife was not aware of her unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life. When you don't have something from the start, you learn to live without it and never miss it. How can you miss something you never had? Of course there are many occasions on which you ponder over what could have been or would be like with a certain material, but that's all it is, wondering. It is not a total awareness of complete discontent.
ReplyDeleteThen, once you taste a little bit of something, like a drug, you suddenly can not live without it, cannot imagine having ever lived without it. She allowed herself to get carried away in the greed, the thoughts of the possible future with the millions in their share. And once that dream was almost ripped out of her head, of course she used the heaviest spike and hurt him emotionally, so that he would think twice before putting the money back. The guilt trip, like Mariya said.