Reviewing the film during the Toronto International Film Festival , Glen Lovell of '' Variety '' , compared it to '' Fargo '' ( 1996 ) , writing , " The key differences are in emphasis and tone : '' Fargo '' is deadpan noir ; '' A Simple Plan '' ... is a more robust Midwestern Gothic that owes as much to Poe as Chandler . " In an " early review " of the film prior to its limited release , Roger Ebert and his colleague , Gene Siskel , gave the film a " Two Thumbs Up " rating on their syndicated television program '' Siskel and Ebert and the Movies '' . In a later episode , Ebert ranked '' A Simple Plan '' at number four on his list of the " Best Films of 1998 " . Siskel , writing for the '' Chicago Tribune '' , said that the film was " an exceedingly well-directed genre picture by Raimi ... who does an excellent job of presaging the lethal violence that follows . From his very first images we know that bodies are going to start to pile up . " Online film critic James Berardinelli praised the acting , but commended Thornton 's performance as being " the most striking that '' A Simple Plan '' has to offer . " After Paxton 's death in February 2017 , Matt Zoller Seitz of ''RogerEbert.com '' cited the actor 's performance as Hank to be the best in his career , stating that " The film might constitute Paxton 's most sorrowful performance as well as his most frightening ... an outwardly ordinary man who has no idea what kind of evil he 's capable of . " Owen Gleiberman of '' Entertainment Weekly '' described the film as being " lean , elegant , and emotionally complex – a marvel of backwoods classicism " . Janet Maslin of '' The New York Times '' called it a " quietly devastating thriller directed by Raimi ... who makes a flawless segue into mainstream storytelling . " Edward Guthmann of the '' San Francisco Chronicle '' wrote , " ... for Raimi , whose mastery of visual effects has driven all of his previous films , '' A Simple Plan '' marks a tremendously successful break from the past . He 's drawn lovely , complex performances from Paxton and Thornton and proven that he can work effectively – and movingly – in a minor emotional key . " In a negative review , Richard Schickel of '' Time '' stated , " There 's neither intricacy nor surprise in the narrative , and these dopes are tedious , witless company . " Schlomo Schwartzberg of '' Boxoffice '' felt that the film " clutters up the story with unnecessary acts of violence and murder , and mainly stays on the surface , offering little more than cheap jolts of melodrama . " '' A Simple Plan '' garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with particular praise for its screenplay by Scott B. Smith and Billy Bob Thornton 's performance . At the 56th Golden Globe Awards , Thornton received a Best Supporting Actor nomination , but lost to Ed Harris , who received the award for his performance in '' The Truman Show '' . At the 71st Academy Awards , Thornton received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor , but lost to James Coburn , who won the award for his performance in '' Affliction '' . Smith received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay , but lost to Bill Condon , who won for '' Gods and Monsters '' . In addition to receiving various awards and nominations , '' A Simple Plan '' was named one of the " Top 10 Films of 1998 " by the National Board of Review
56th Golden Globe Awards
56th Golden Globe Awards
A Simple Plan (film)