Synopsis:

What would you do if you found $4.4 million dollars in cash in a crashed plane in the middle of the Minnesotan woods? Three men (Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Brent Briscoe) stumble upon a downed plane and find the cash inside a duffel bag inside the plane, as well as it's dead and moist pilot. Initially, it looks like "The American Dream in a duffel bag", however, greed and avarice give way to conspiring against one another and murder. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Never was this image more clearly established than in this film. Money can't buy happiness but it can buy a whole heap of trouble. Their simple plan quickly dissolves into a complicated series of lies and events that leaves all but one of them …well, I can't exactly tell you that now can! Depressing but good. A simple plan is well worth and evening of your time.

Audio/Video:

The film's audio is presented in DD5.1 that's more subtle than anything. The most effective use of the surrounds is when the murder of crows is startled and you have crows flying all about you and "cawing" just about everywhere. The center is well delineated and the dialogue is crystalline. The only drawback is there are no subtitles included with this film.

The video is incredible. The colors Blacks and Whites are so clean and rich it's almost like you are looking outside as opposed to watching a movie. It's anamorphically enhanced and easily one of the best looking transfers I have seen. There were no transfer errors that I noticed in the print of the film.

Extras:

This is a Paramount disc and as such, the extras are non-existent. The only additional feature on the disc is the film's trailer.

Overall:

A Simple Plan is a good thriller that could have benefited by at least the inclusion of a couple more extras. The audio/video quality is so good that it's a shame this is a bare bones disc. Gripping thriller that twists turns all the way until the end of the film. Recommended