After watching the first half hour or so of the film A Simple Plan, I became quite intrigued with it. Although the plot of the movie is not the most original thing I have ever seen, the events unfold in such a way that instantly grips the viewer's imagination and only engulfs him into the story further. Not only does the pace of the film move very well, without not a dull moment in sight... But the camera-work is simply amazing! Just like in The Seventh Seal, I am sure (and hopefully many of you would agree), that if we were to still-frame a couple of the shots, several of the pictures would have a great aesthetic & symbolic quality that they could easily be made into works of art by themselves!
But alas, there are few things in this world of ours that can be considered flawless... There is one character that I have grown to absolutely despise within the short half hour that I had the pleasure of meeting him -----> and that character is non other than the movie's main protagonist, Hank! The more time I spend learning more about him through his thoughts and actions, the more resentment I feel when seeing this individual onscreen. Although this is utter garbage, surprisingly enough, he is rolled up in a non-threatening visually-appealing exterior. To me, he is the ultimate manifestation of everything I hate in this world ----> a false sense of morality, a holier-than-thou attitude, an upper-class pretentious attitude, uncontrollable paranioa, cowardice and overall deceptiveness to his close friends and fellow man. He exhudes each of these negative traits light as day through his actions.
The first event that made me start disliking Hank was the fact the he was so adamant about "returning the money" (as if he has any clue where it actually came from and who it truly belongs to). It took the combined forces of his brother & their close friend to convince him that returning the money to the "proper authorities" was an absolutely stupid idea. (If you want to know my full opinion on the subject matter, you may refer to the previous blog entry). What made me hate this guy ever more was the fact that he had the audacity to present his brother and their friend with his stipulations regarding the future of the money. Hank's condition for agreeing to keep the money is that he be the one to keep the money at his house & that no one spend any of it until the winter season comes along - a time when everyone will be able to move away and diwy up the cash. The audacity and sheer arrogance he displays by demanding they agree to these conditions is beyond my understanding. Hank expects them to move away from home and start the new life who-knows-where solely as a result of his own paranoid thoughts. Who the hell is he to tell them that the only way they will ever be able to see the money is though his own discretion - that is, is they agree to listen to his orders, and leave everything they previously thought was their's.
Next, he is a cold-blooded killer! He finishes the job that his dim-witted, yet good-natured brother mistakenly started as a result of his own clumsiness. For a guy who tries to present himself as being the voice of morality & reason by telling them that the money is not their's for the taking, he sure acts rather moral when smothering the poor sheriff to death. Dor God's sake, hedoesn't even kill the sheriff like a man! Call me a savage or a barbarian if you want, but I truly believe that if you actually plan on killing someone, you should give him the proper respect by looking into his eyes during the last moments of his life. Hank on the other hand, does the most cowardly thing possible in these regards - he looks away by averting his eyes. This tells me that he wasn't even sure that he was doing the right thing! Choosing between life and death is not a matter on can second-guess himself in, it either lets us stay in this wonderful world of ours or drags us deep into the dark, dreary abyss. He killed a man when not even being sure about it! So much for that holier-than-thou attitude Hank...
There was one other event in which Hank's colors shined right through, effectively showing us how much of a piece of human scum he really is. Before entering each of their respective homes, Hank tells Lou (the portly redneck gentleman) that if he were to even think about telling his wife about the money, there would be hell to pay. Sure enough, within the first five minutes of entering his house, he shows his wife every single dollar that they found that day. In all honest, I was about to jump out of my seat when witnessing this display of unabashed deceptiveness and treason.
Although I am quite sure that the Scott Smith (author of the book and screenplay) wished for us to be simpathetic to the character, being witnessing to the harsh transformation that he undergoes as a result of the "curse" of this unimaginble fortune, I have just outlined the numerous reasons why Hank is a piece of human scum. We must NOT show or feel any kind of remorse when anything catastophic happens to him in the near future.
I agree...surprisingly haha. Well thought out post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything except the last point, namely, that the writer wants us to like Hank. I don't think that is true. He is exactly what you say he is, a morally complacent, self-righteous individual, one who believed that he was not capable of crime. However, he's learning the hard way. Let's see if his attitude changed by film's end. Nice post, old friend.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I like Hank more than Jacob or Lou is that he has brains. He is cool under pressure and has the wits and know how to escape with the money. Even if he is a morally complacent, self-righteous individual, one who believed that he was not capable of crime he still has brains.
ReplyDeleteI also agree. Hank's hypocrisy and self-righteous attitude is quite irritating and even though he has brains, it doesn't shed a favorable light on intellect overall. His intellect is the reason why he is worse than Jacob and Lou because he uses it to trick them, bribe them, and blackmail them.
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