A Simple Plan - Arrow 4K UHD Limited Edition

“Do you ever feel evil sometimes? I do. I feel evil.” – Jacob Mitchell, played by Billy Bob Thornton.

We’ve all wondered to ourselves what we would do if we found a cache of riches out in the wild. A suitcase filled with hundred-dollar bills. A duffel bag filled with jewels. There have been countless stories about it, too, from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Steinbeck’s The Pearl and even No Country for Old Men. With the exception of the Disney kids flick Blank Check, it never ends well. But, with maybe a little creative thinking, it might work out for you! Because you’re different, somehow.

So, too, believe the characters in A Simple Plan. When Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton) comes home with a bag filled with stacks of hundred-dollar bills, just over $4 million in cash, he asks his wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) what she would do. She says she would give it back. She would return it because stealing is wrong. Funny, that’s what Hank said only an hour earlier. When he shows her the money, her supposed values dissolve like vapor in the air.

Based on the novel by Scott B. Smith, who also wrote the screenplay, A Simple Plan delves into the deterioration of the human soul when faced with such a fortune. Hank, his brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jacob’s best friend Lou (Brent Briscoe) find a downed plane, covered in snow, with the bag of money in the cabin. The pilot is dead and has been for some time. They figure no one is looking for this plane, or if they are, they haven’t found it yet. The three of them decide to split the $4 million three ways, but they agree to sit on it until the coast is clear, and then they part ways with each other.

Hank has a decent job doing accountant work for the local feed mill in town. Jacob and Lou are unemployed drunks. Lou, in particular, is desperate. He needs the money, and he needs it now, to pay off debts. He owes people around town money so he decides to take an early withdrawal by blackmailing Hank. Divisions are formed. Loyalties shift back and forth. And these men find themselves committing acts of evil, all in the name of wealth.

The question is: What would you do if you found that much money? Would you keep it or would you turn it in? We’ve all seen enough movies where everyone’s life is turned upside down by sudden, unexpected wealth, but pondering a hypothetical scenario is vastly different than facing reality. Hank and his wife had likely seen the same movies, but that bag of money transformed them into something else, into people they would no longer recognize.

A Simple Plan was directed by Sam Raimi, who stepped in as a last-minute replacement for the original director, John Boorman. As much as I love John Boorman, and as much as I think this kind of story would be right up his alley, I think Sam Raimi puts in some of his absolute best work here. It’s chilling to see people, who believe that they are good, commit acts of cruelty in the name of fortune. Billy Bob Thornton was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Jacob, but there are no weak players here. In a just world, Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda would have been nominated, too. Paxton puts in a very subtle performance—it made me think a lot about Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, the way he says one thing, but his eyes say another. And Fonda’s more sympathetic take on Lady Macbeth, who pulls the strings behind the scenes, shows a woman who has fallen into darkness.

While the snow falls in Minnesota and covers their tracks, and Danny Elfman’s haunting score underplays the darkness of the human soul, we watch a twisted, macabre tale unfold. A Simple Plan is a masterpiece.

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
For this release we received a check disc. Retail copies of Arrow Video’s release of A Simple Plan will arrive on a single 4K UHD Blu-ray disc housed in a standard case with a slipcover featuring new artwork by Matt Griffin. The case has reversible cover artwork—one side is the same newly commissioned artwork, and the other side will be the original, classic poster art from its original release in 1998. Inside, there will also be an illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Bilge Ebiri and an excerpt from the book The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi by John Kenneth Muir.

For the vast majority of A Simple Plan’s run time, it looks absolutely flawless. The film takes place in the dead of winter, blanketed in snow. The color palette stands in contrast with the gleaming of the whiteness—characters wear dark clothing, like black coats, gray sweaters, etc. Interiors have a warmth about them, with amber hues in the lighting, lots of brown colors from the wooden interiors. And in the opening scene, we witness a fox sprinting across a field and its fiery red coat looks absolutely breathtaking.

For this release, A Simple Plan was remastered in 4K from the original 35mm negative, and approved by Sam Raimi. There are times when I think that the Dolby Vision HDR grading had a bit of a heavy hand, but these are momentary shots that happened to stand out. The color looked overly saturated; skin tones almost looked orange. These moments are rare, but I thought worth pointing out. Overall, this is the best A Simple Plan has looked on home video, and it’s always been a good-looking movie. Sam Raimi enlisted the help of his friends the Coen Brothers, who’d shot Fargo, for advice on how to light the snow. Perhaps they returned the favor when they made their own bag of money movie, No Country for Old Men.

Arrow provides listeners with two different sound mix options: A 5.1 surround option and 2.0 stereo option, both in DTS-HD MA. I did toggle back and forth between the two and while there’s not a tremendous difference between the options, if you have a proper surround system with rear speakers, go with the 5.1 option. A Simple Plan is a very talky picture, so it’s going to be a front-heavy presentation on the soundstage. However, Danny Elfman’s haunting score (one of the best in his career) envelopes the entirety of the soundstage, including the rear speakers and home theater sound systems will really benefit from it. There’s an eerie bittersweetness to the score and sometimes the movie plays it (intentionally) at a level so low, that it’s barely noticeable, but it sets the viewer on edge. Other effects, like squawking birds, gunshots, and ambient effects like a cold wind will make their way to the rears. This sounds more or less like a lossless version of the same mix from its original DVD release, which was excellent then and is excellent now.

Almost as though they found a lot of special features out in the forest, Arrow Video dumps a stack of supplements into this disc. They’ve really outdone themselves and there are a ton of extras to make your way through.

• 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 (HD 8:18) - A newly filmed interview with cinematographer Alar Kivilo
• Standing Her Ground (HD 6:23) - A newly filmed interview with actor Becky Ann Baker
• Dead of Winter (HD 10:45) - A newly filmed interview with actor Chelcie Ross
• On-set Interviews (SD 15:00) - With Paxton, Thornton, Fonda, Raimi, and producer Jim Jacks
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage (SD 6:47)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Illustrated Collectors' Booklet

On a personal level, A Simple Plan is one of my favorite movies, made by a team of people who are putting in some of their career-best work. Bill Paxton, treasure that he was, was significant in pulling off this film. He represents the idealism of the American Dream and he represents the greed in trying to steal it. His fall from grace is one of the all-time greats in cinematic history, along with everyone he pulls down with him. A Simple Plan is a remarkable achievement and Arrow Video’s release is stellar all around. A Simple Plan in 4K from Arrow Video is, simply, very Highly Recommended.