A SIMPLE PLAN (1998), dir. Sam Raimi

Strong characterization is what puts this movie in the upper echelon of thrillers. The screenplay, adapted by Scott B. Smith from his own novel of the same name, establishes the relationships between its protagonists early on. Then, as the wheels of mistrust, alliance-making, and inevitable betrayal are set in motion, Smith builds suspense by either meeting or defying the viewer’s expectations. A nimble writer, he sometimes accomplishes both within the same scene.

The plot of “A Simple Plan” mirrors the novel: Amidst a snowy wasteland, brothers Hank (Bill Paxton) and Jacob Mitchell (Billy Bob Thornton), along with Jacob’s loutish pal Lou (Brent Briscoe), stumble across a crash-landed Cessna in a remote wooden location. Inside, they find a dead pilot, as well as a duffel bag stuffed with over four million dollars in cash. At first, Hank insists that they report their discovery to the authorities. But after much goading – mainly by the down-on-his-luck Lou, with whom Hank shares a mutual dislike – the trio agrees to hide the money in Hank’s house until they can be certain that cops or drug dealers are not tracking it down.

Unfortunately, keeping the money secret requires quick thinking and tight lips, something that simple-minded Jacob and Lou have in short supply. Also, any trust between the three co-conspirators already shows signs of fraying early on. Once the situation escalates – with the brothers finding themselves caught up in assault, then murder – Hank not only has to protect the money from discovery, but his own reputation against Lou, who desperately wants his share.

Throw into the mix a come-lately FBI agent (Gary Cole) who may not be everything that he claims, and you get a movie that almost becomes exhaustive in its slithery-ness. But as the corpses pile up and the sense of impending doom mounts, what makes “A Simple Plan” increasingly fascinating is trying to pin down the intimate relationships – Hank and Jacob; Hank and his wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) – that lie at the film’s center. Will the lonely and unemployed, but strangely innocent Jacob, who has long nursed a grudge against Hank for their family’s misfortunes, side with his buddy Lou against him? Meanwhile, how far will Sarah, who started off as a sweet, caring mother-to-be, push Hank to keep the fortune, after initially telling him to turn it in?

Ultimately, “A Simple Plan” contains a moral lesson for audiences, that none of us, whether the town drunk or upstanding citizens, is immune to the corruptive power of greed. It’s an important lesson, and Raimi shows an unexpected maturity and restraint in conveying it. Known for his wild, high-energy style in the “Evil Dead” and “Spider-Man” movies, I can only think of one scene where the director likely resorted to special effects over his talented cast. That scene involved a highly-strung stand-off between two characters; a shotgun blast deflates the tension, albeit in a manner reminiscent of the air being let out of a cartoon inner tube.

Overall rating: ****

LIFEBOAT (1944), dir. Alfred Hitchcock

The best compliment that I can give “Lifeboat” is to call it utterly unpredictable. From scene to scene – within scenes, too – I never had a firm bead on where the plot was headed. Like the main characters in the titular craft, who find themselves adrift at sea after a Nazi attack, I also had to let myself be carried along by unseen forces, which in this case were Hitchcock and screenwriter Jo Swirling. There is no other option. Even if you think you know what the “master of suspense” has planned with this adaptation of a short story by John Steinbeck, he will refute your expectations repeatedly. Trust me: Just hang on for the ride.

Part of the film looks like it was shot in front of a projection screen, others on a soundstage or possibly the open water. I wasn’t always aware of the difference, which is a plus, considering that special effects scenes in old movies tend to show seams. But even during what might have been a complicated, trick-heavy sequence – for example, when the small ship gets battered about by a passing storm – “Lifeboat” never seems hokey. Some credit belongs to Hitchcock’s sound technicians, who clearly knew their way around wave crashes and wind-gust whistles. But accolades should also get passed along to the director himself, who pioneered the art of cutting the music off to build an atmosphere of dread and foreboding.

Indeed, the longer “Lifeboat” stays afloat, the more it becomes saturated with the mood of danger. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this will be a departure from standard Hitchcock fare, just because we are removed this time from symbols of civilization, e.g., the passenger car in "The Lady Vanishes." The director continues his pattern of juxtaposing the ordinary with the terrible, of invading what we perceive to be safe sanctuaries. The ocean starts off looking like a placid, thoroughly innocuous place to find oneself, but Hitchcock delves beneath the surface – or shows something emerging up from it, at least – to reveal how illusory our safety is, and how ironic the title choice really was.

Further enhancing the unpredictable nature of the movie is the casting, which is pitch-perfect in one crucial role. I speak, of course, of actor Walter Slezak, who played the Nazi captain who sank the cruise liner everyone had been traveling aboard. Should the others trust him? He claims that he attacked under orders, and has an unassuming, cherubic face to go with charm, intelligence, and nautical experience. Tallulah Bankhead is also terrific as a materialistic socialite who can go from calm to bedlam in two-seconds-flat. But Slezak is the real casting coup. He embodied a recurring Hitchcock model: guile and resourcefulness hidden beneath a gentle-looking exterior. In other words, something terrible disguised as something ordinary.

Overall rating: ***