Some spoilers.
A Simple Plan is a study of what ordinary people are willing to do for an immense amount of money and also of just how badly things can go out of hand. Our mothers have told us early on how one lie inevitably leads to another and that, sooner or later, something or someone is going to crack. Of course, any plan is only as good as its weakest link, and while the main protagonist and, ultimately, the only survivor, seems stable enough, his dim-witted brother and his best friend (who has a serious gambling habit) are obvious sources of trouble from the start. Therefore, as greed and a lack of intelligence combine with the local police investigation and the other pilot of that crashed plane, things rapidly go downhill and people start getting killed. While the atmosphere of the movie is powerful at all times, the fatalism of the protagonist is not always believable. Had the writers opted for a more brave ending, I could have given this nine out of ten points; I'll leave it at six now because said ending is an overly obvious rephrasing of the "crime never pays" motto. Apart from the fact that thousands of big shot crime lords the world over prove this to be wrong, the resolution is also not very clever, as the so-called obstacle is easy enough to avoid. All in all, good set-up, disappointing ending.
A Simple Plan is a study of what ordinary people are willing to do for an immense amount of money and also of just how badly things can go out of hand. Our mothers have told us early on how one lie inevitably leads to another and that, sooner or later, something or someone is going to crack. Of course, any plan is only as good as its weakest link, and while the main protagonist and, ultimately, the only survivor, seems stable enough, his dim-witted brother and his best friend (who has a serious gambling habit) are obvious sources of trouble from the start. Therefore, as greed and a lack of intelligence combine with the local police investigation and the other pilot of that crashed plane, things rapidly go downhill and people start getting killed. While the atmosphere of the movie is powerful at all times, the fatalism of the protagonist is not always believable. Had the writers opted for a more brave ending, I could have given this nine out of ten points; I'll leave it at six now because said ending is an overly obvious rephrasing of the "crime never pays" motto. Apart from the fact that thousands of big shot crime lords the world over prove this to be wrong, the resolution is also not very clever, as the so-called obstacle is easy enough to avoid. All in all, good set-up, disappointing ending.