Good guy, mild-mannered Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton), mildly retarded brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) and a drunken friend (Brent Briscoe) find 4 million dollars in a downed plane. They decide to hold on to the money, see if anyone's looking for it and then split it. But things slowly--very slowly--unravel...
I can't figure out why so many people love this. It is well-directed by Sam Raimi (although he overused the black birds to a ridiculous degree) and takes good advantage of the bleak, snowy landscapes...but I found this a crashing bore. The story rambles on far too long; the point of the movie is laughably obvious (money corrupts everything--well duh!) and some crucial performances don't work.
DEFINITE SPOILERS!!! Paxton is a good actor--but his transformation from mild-mannered guy to killer never once rings true. I didn't believe one second of it. Bridget Fonda (as his wife) has the same problem. Her quick transformation rang false. They're both wonderful actors but they can't pull this off for whatever reason. Thornton's character was so pathetic and over the top that I tired of him quickly. Briscoe was just obnoxious. That's another reason I hate this--ALL these characters were just horrible people that you didn't give a damn about. I was anxious to see every last one of the them dead by the end. END SPOILERS!!!
The movie was far too slow and way too long. Most of the footage of Thornton's character babbling nonstop got on my nerves. It gets a 6 only because of the good direction and a few good moments that Paxton and Fonda share--those two really clicked as husband and wife. Also good to see Gary Cole. But this movie was too dull, long and unpleasant for me to recommend.
I can't figure out why so many people love this. It is well-directed by Sam Raimi (although he overused the black birds to a ridiculous degree) and takes good advantage of the bleak, snowy landscapes...but I found this a crashing bore. The story rambles on far too long; the point of the movie is laughably obvious (money corrupts everything--well duh!) and some crucial performances don't work.
DEFINITE SPOILERS!!! Paxton is a good actor--but his transformation from mild-mannered guy to killer never once rings true. I didn't believe one second of it. Bridget Fonda (as his wife) has the same problem. Her quick transformation rang false. They're both wonderful actors but they can't pull this off for whatever reason. Thornton's character was so pathetic and over the top that I tired of him quickly. Briscoe was just obnoxious. That's another reason I hate this--ALL these characters were just horrible people that you didn't give a damn about. I was anxious to see every last one of the them dead by the end. END SPOILERS!!!
The movie was far too slow and way too long. Most of the footage of Thornton's character babbling nonstop got on my nerves. It gets a 6 only because of the good direction and a few good moments that Paxton and Fonda share--those two really clicked as husband and wife. Also good to see Gary Cole. But this movie was too dull, long and unpleasant for me to recommend.