SAM RAIMI

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB.5. 

United Kingdom/Germany/France/USA/Japan, 1998. British Broadcasting Corporation, Mutual Film Company, Paramount Pictures, Savoy Pictures, Tele München Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft, Toho Company, Towa Video, Union Générale Cinématographique.  Screenplay by Scott B. Smith, based on the novel. Cinematography by Alar Kivilo.  Produced by James Jacks, Adam Schroeder.  Music by Danny Elfman.  Production Design by Patrizia von Brandenstein.  Costume Design by Julie Weiss.  Film Editing by Eric L. Beason, Arthur Coburn.  

Superb thriller that takes an examination of human greed to its most terrifying extreme.  Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton are brothers who, along with pal Brent Briscoe, discover a few million dollars stashed away in a stranded plane that crashed in the woods near their small town. They decide to hide the money in a safe place, wait to see if the authorities mention any recent large sum of money gone missing, and then divvy up the loot equally and go their separate ways. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out that easily, and soon paranoia, money lust and long-hidden resentment muck up the whole situation and dead bodies start to pile up. Bridget Fonda is especially good as Paxton’s wife, a woman who won’t just let the opportunity to better her boring life pass her by.

Academy Award Nominations:  Best Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thornton); Best Adapted Screenplay

Golden Globe Award Nomination:  Best Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thornton)

Screen Actors Guild Award Nomination:  Best Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thornton)

Toronto International Film Festival:  1998