A Simple Plan: Sam Raimi's Classic Crime Thriller Celebrates a Milestone (Limited Edition Blu-ray)

The Film:

Writer/director Sam Raimi has made quite a career for himself over the last few decades by making films that primarily focus on the horror genre. Most notably this has included the original "Evil Dead" trilogy, with other significant works including "Darkman," "Drag Me to Hell," and most recently "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." However, while his career may have been built on horror, he's also been known to play around in other genres for films like the original "Spider-Man" trilogy and "Oz the Great and Powerful."

One of these forays included a crime thriller called "A Simple Plan," a film which garnered him some of the best reviews of his career, and even went on to earn a pair of Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay (by Scott B. Smith, based on his own novel) and Best Supporting Actor for Billy Bob Thornton. With the film having recently reached its 25th anniversary, Arrow Films is celebrating by releasing a brand new limited edition Blu-ray, featuring a newly-remastered transfer and special features new & old, so as usual, let's dive in and see what made this a particular stand-out in his filmography.

Taking place in a sparsely-populated area of Minnesota, Hank (Bill Paxton) works at a local feed mill, while his pregnant wife, Sarah (Bridget Fonda), works as a librarian. While out with his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) and their friend Lou (Brent Briscoe), they end up in a minor car accident when they swerve to miss a fox. The three end up following the fox into the woods where they find a plane containing a bag full of money. Hank immediately wants to turn it in to avoid trouble, but the other two eventually convince him to split it between them, with Hank forcing the condition of keeping it at his place until the plane is discovered. It seems like such a simple plan, but as you can probably expect, problems start to arise, making things much more complicated than originally thought.

"A Simple Plan" is one of those films that you'd swear must be a product of the Coen Bros. simply based on its situation of having "normal" characters getting mixed up in an extraordinary situation involving crime. In that regard, it reminded me time and time again of their masterpiece "Fargo," and not just because of the snowy setting. In fact, if the book this was based on hadn't been released three years prior to "Fargo," I would've said it must've been a rather heavy influence on it (though that film's extreme popularity could certainly have been the reason it was turned into a movie).

As for that "extraordinary situation," it ends up being the very pulse of "A Simple Plan." Three ordinary, small town folks find a bag full of money, and we simply sit back and see how it affects them & their loved ones. In that regard, it ends up going a little over-the-top throughout, with tensions running high and quick thinking being used, but this is what makes it rather entertaining, seeing how they manage to dig themselves deeper and deeper into these wild circumstances. It's particularly amusing that Hank's wife keeps coming up with some rather interesting plans in order to help out, with some being a bit questionable and others just poorly executed.

The only part of the film where its over-the-top tendency doesn't work quite so well is during part of its conclusion. Obviously I won't go into detail, but it's a scene that comes about so quickly, and comes off as so melodramatic, that it just doesn't ring quite true. Aside from that, it ends in a mostly satisfactory manner that wraps things up pretty nicely, giving this bizarre ride an appropriate send off. As mentioned, this is just a good-old-fashioned crime thriller where you anxiously wait to see what crazy thing will happen next, and in that regard it's pretty compelling, making it easily worth the two-hour investment.

Video/Audio:

"A Simple Plan" comes to limited edition Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of outstanding quality. The film has been newly-remastered in 4K from the original negative (approved by director Sam Raimi himself) and looks beautifully sharp & clear throughout the entire two-hour duration. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sounds fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and Danny Elfman's score in excellent quality. Overall, Arrow Films has done a marvelous job polishing the film in both areas for this new release.

Special Features:

Audio commentary by critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme

Audio commentary by production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein with filmmaker Justin Beahm

Of Ice and Men with Alar Kivilo (8 Minutes)

Standing Her Ground with Becky Ann Baker (6 Minutes)

Dead of Winter with Chelcie Ross (11 Minutes)

On-Set Interviews (17 Minutes)

Behind The Scenes (7 Minutes)

This edition comes with a pretty good collection of extras, both new and archival, with the featurettes totaling up to about 50 minutes and consisting mainly of intriguing interviews. It may not seem like a lot, but there's a fair amount of engaging material here for fans of the film to delve into.

Conclusion:

Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" takes the simple premise of three ordinary men finding a bag of money and turns it into a rather entertaining, compelling crime thriller that'll have you wondering what wild, over-the-top development could possibly happen next. Arrow Films' new limited edition Blu-ray looks & sounds great, and comes with a fine selection of extras, making this an easy recommendation for your collection.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on Limited Edition Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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