8. A Simple Plan (1998)
At first, I didn't consider this one of his stronger films, due to my personal disliking of Billy Bob Thorton and Bill Paxton because of some of their other stereotypical performances. Once I was able to shrug that preconceived prejudice off, this actually was a nice surprise. I don't think Billy Bob needed big nerd glasses to establish that he was the dumber of two brothers, but whatever... Although no big draw at the box office, bringing in $1 million less than its $17 million budget, A Simple Plan was straight story-telling of 2 brothers discovering a bag of money in the woods and trying to decide what to do with the money and what to do when somebody mean and dangerous comes looking for it. If this sounds familiar, it is. It's the storyline of the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men. Sort of. While the Coen Brothers followed the golden rule of 'location, location, location' and set their story in the warm confines of the Southern US and centered more on the sociopath tracking the money down, Raimi stuck north in the middle of winter and focused on the finders. The stark coldness of the season adds and extra layer of texture to the script, which really works. Plus, Raimi gets points for having his crew wear snow suits throughout shooting. This truly hit 2 out of the 3 directing criteria for me; actors acting and a good, well-filmed script.