Sam Raimi directed A SIMPLE PLAN, a movie about two brothers and a friend who find a crashed plane on a nature reserve that just happens to have a bag of cash containing $4.4 million. What starts out as the potential answer to all of their problems turns out the biggest problem they’ll ever have to deal with.
Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton & Brent Briscoe play the guys who find the money and come up with a plan to keep it. As you can imagine, it all goes to hell, with one thing leading to another thing that leads to another thing, and none of it good. The performances in this film are uniformly excellent, with Thornton as the standout. He completely disappears into his character and received an Oscar nomination for his work. It’s a great film, but it’s not exactly a fun film as we watch these characters’ lives turn into a slowly unfolding bus wreck. I watched it recently for the first time since I saw it in the theaters in 1998. Although I highly recommend it, I’m probably good for another couple of decades.
This scene with Paxton and Thornton is pretty sad and a pretty strong indicator of why money ultimately can never bring true happiness.
Through the Shattered Lens 
This film was based on a 1993 book by Scott Smith, which I loved. It could have taken place anytime in a 50 year window, because the story is about human behavior and desire. The movie came out in 1998, and I was so happy it was the same story and appreciated the adaptation. There is a scene in the book concerning the two brothers, played by Paxton and Thornton, that precedes that great movie interaction. The book scene involves Paxton walking down a long main street, and spotting his older (much less intelligent and socialized) brother a few blocks away. This is before the real drama plays out, and we are just getting to know the characters. Paxton is walking, watching his brother approach, and thinking how nice it will be to say “hello” and maybe they can take a few minutes and get lunch together. He spots the exact moment his brother spots him, and brother Thornton veers off into some retail store, clearly avoiding Paxton. It is shocking, and hurtful. Such a harbinger for the betrayal and anger and conflict to come. Thanks, Brad, I lovedd this story both book and movie.
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