After a career built on the Evil Dead movies and then genre flicks like 1990’s Darkman and 1995’s The Quick and the Dead, Sam Raimi decided to “go serious”. This led to 1998’s drama A Simple Plan.

Set in a small-town Minnesota community, Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton) works as an accountant at a feed mill. He and his librarian wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) struggle to make ends meet.

When Hank, his naïve older brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jacob's friend Lou (Brent Briscoe) stumble upon a crashed plane, they discover millions in cash inside the craft. The men decide to keep the money, a choice that sets off paranoia and division among them.

I saw Plan theatrically during its wide release in early 1999. It came with good reviews so I went in with high expectations.

If I recall correctly, Plan didn’t live up to those hopes. I remember the movie as more than decent but not a great piece of cinema.

Almost 26 years later, I finally revisited Plan. Would I view it the same at 57 as I did at 31?

Err… maybe? While I maintain a moderately different perspective on life circa 2024 than I did in 1999, I continue to find Plan to provide a competent and professional film but not one that really packs a punch.

To be sure, Plan boasts an excellent cast. In addition to those already mentioned, we find talents like Gary Cole, Becky Ann Baker, Chelcie Ross and others to flesh out a terrific set of actors.

All do fine in their parts. I don’t feel sure Thornton deserved to get singled out for the movie’s sole acting-based Oscar nomination, but he does avoid the typical pitfalls associated with intellectually stunted roles and makes Jacob more real than many would.

Paxton gets the straight role and does fine. Always a reliable performer, he grounds the movie.

I don’t think Raimi manages to do much to bring out the best in the material, though. I get the impression that Raimi wanted to prove his mettle as a Serious Filmmaker and resisted his usual flamboyant urges.

Not that I’d want Plan to go cuckoo like the earlier flicks I mentioned, of course, as Raimi’s extravagant tendencies would seem badly out of place here. Still, it feels like Raimi tones down his act too much and renders Plan a semi-inert piece in terms of cinematic styling.

Screenwriter Scott B. Smith earned the movie’s other Oscar nomination and based the script on his own 1993 novel. While I don’t know what influenced him, Plan sure plays like a riff on the themes of 1948’s classic Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Not that I view Plan as a ripoff of that tale, of course, and plenty of other stories include similar themes. Still, given the continued fame of Treasure, comparisons seem inevitable.

And unfavorable, as few films can match up to what John Huston and Humphrey Bogart achieved in the 1940s. That one deserves its immortal status.

Plan feels more like a footnote on cinematic history. As noted, I think the film seems professional and well-made overall, even if Raimi fails to add much to the proceedings.

As I felt in 1999, though, Plan simply never becomes better than “pretty good”. The flick does enough to keep me with it but it just doesn’t turn into anything genuinely great.

A Simple Plan appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. While usually fine, aspects of the Dolby Vision image seemed spotty.

Sharpness turned into one of the issues. Although most of the flick delivered positive delineation, some odd softness cropped up at times.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, but I witnessed light edge haloes at times. I don’t know whether or not these came “baked in” to the source or they resulted from choices made during the scan, but they distracted when they occurred. Grain seemed mild to moderate. Print flaws failed to manifest.

Given the stark and frigid setting, the movie went with a low-key palette that favored chilly blues. These didn’t dazzle and their restrictions meant HDR added little to their impact, but the disc replicated them as intended.

Blacks seemed fairly deep and dense, while low-light shots brought largely appealing clarity, albeit with a little more murk than expected. HDR added a bit of punch to whites and contrast. Because I tend to trust Arrow, I suspect the issues I found stemmed from the source, but this nonetheless ended up as a sporadically dodgy image.

Given the movie’s quiet character focus, don’t expect fireworks from the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. Most of the time, it brought a subdued affair.

Wintry weather filled the speakers in a reasonable manner, and the movie’s occasional acts of violence provided moderate punch. Otherwise the mix focused on good stereo music and general ambience.

Audio quality satisfied, with speech that remained concise and natural. Music showed appealing range and fullness.

As noted, effects usually lacked much to do beyond environmental basics, but they nonetheless came across as accurate. This seemed like a perfectly competent mix for a character tale.

Two audio commentaries appear, the first of which comes from production designer Patrizia von Brandensteim and moderator Justin Beahm. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at sets, locations and set dressing, cast and crew, and various notes about the shoot.

Unsurprisingly, production design topics dominate, and von Brandenstein ensures we learn a lot about her work. She and Beahm add a mix of insights related to other subjects so this winds up as a solid chat.

For the second commentary, we hear from film critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme. Both sit together for their own running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, themes and interpretation, cast and performances, genre domains, some production elements and their thoughts about the movie.

This becomes a reasonably solid overview of the various domains. While not the deepest critic commentary I’ve heard, it does the job.

Some featurettes follow, and Of Ice and Men runs eight minutes, 18 seconds. It provides a chat with cinematographer Alar Kivilo.

“Ice” covers how he came onto the film as well as aspects of his work on it. Kivilo offers a short but effective overview of the movie’s photography.

Standing Her Ground goes for six minutes, 23 seconds. This one involves actor Becky Ann Baker.

Here we find info about Baker’s casting, her performances, her co-stars, and experiences during the shoot. Though too brief, Baker’s discussion still gives us some good notes.

Next comes Dead of Winter. It lasts 10 minutes, 45 seconds and features actor Chelcie Ross.

“Dead” examines topics similar to those discussed by Baker but obviously from Ross’s own POV.

Five On-Set Interviews ensue. We get circa 1997 remarks from director Sam Raimi (6:02), producer James L. Jacks (1:05), and actors Bill Paxton (3:47), Billy Bob Thornton (3:59) and Bridget Fonda (2:22).

Across these, we get thoughts about the source novel, story/characters, cast and performances, and visual choices. Like most chats like these, we get a handful of insights but the “Interviews” generally seem superficial.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we conclude with a Behind the Scenes reel that lasts six minutes, 47 seconds. It offers some fun “fly on the wall” shots from the production.

Sam Raimi’s first attempt at a sober ‘serious film’, A Simple Plan manages to become a generally positive mix of thriller and morality tale. That said, it doesn’t quite connect as well as I feel it should, so it delivers a good but unmemorable affair. The 4K UHD comes with inconsistent but generally solid visuals, appropriate audio and a nice mix of bonus materials. I like but don’t love the flick.