Cast: Alessandro Nivola, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin
Director: Mike Barker
Producers: Sean Bailey, Betsy Beers, Alan Greenspan, Chris Moore
Screenplay: Ted Griffin
Cinematography: Ben Seresin
Music: Craig Armstrong
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Mike Barker's Best Laid Plans is a slightly overplotted, but nevertheless entertaining thriller that works primarily because it concentrates on developing characters and building relationships instead of throwing a series of improbable twists at the audience. That isn't to say there aren't a few unexpected turns in the story, but Best Laid Plans would still be effective without them. This is also a rare thriller that doesn't soak the screen with blood, violence, sex, and profanity. There's a little of each, but nothing compared to what we have come to expect in the post-Tarantino era.
Nick (Alessandro Nivola) and Lissa (Reese Witherspoon) are young, in love, and willing to do almost anything to get out of the dying rural town of Tropico. Nick thinks his boat has come in when his father dies, but the supposedly substantial estate evaporates when it turns out that Nick's father owed the IRS. With his finances in disarray, Nick looks for an alternative method to secure the means for his trip away from Tropico. When a co-worker at the local recycling plant offers a $10,000 opportunity for acting as a driver in a drug scam, Nick can't refuse. Unfortunately, things go bad, and Nick finds himself owing a drug dealer $15,000. His grace period to pay is a scant five days. With time running out, Nick and Lissa hatch a scheme to bilk Bryce (Josh Brolin), an old high school buddy of Nick's, out of the money. The plan looks foolproof - until Bryce doesn't react as expected.
Best Laid Plans is not presented linearly, but it doesn't play too many games with the chronology. The film begins in the present with a 10-minute introductory sequence designed to hook the viewer. The next hour is an extended series of flashbacks that introduce the characters and set up the situation. Finally, we're back in the present with 20 minutes to wrap things up. Best Laid Plans offers one surprise near the end (as seemingly all thrillers must), but it comes from an unexpected source. Barker tosses in enough subtle red herrings that he gets us looking in the wrong direction. As a result, even though I knew there had to be a twist of some kind, the director reeled me in. Looking back at the movie from the post-end credits perspective, things hold together reasonably well, although the climactic revelation opens a few minor holes in logic and consistency.
This is basically a three character story. Even though Nick and Lissa aren't pillars of morality, they're easy to sympathize with because they're acting out of desperation rather than greed. If Nick doesn't get the money, he's a dead man. Both Alessandro Nivola (Face/Off) and Reese Witherspoon offer strong portrayals of two lovers who struggle with their consciences even though they are out of options. Witherspoon, who with every new performance is growing into an actress of great depth and range, is especially impressive. In the past two years, she has bolstered her reputation and visibility significantly with roles in films like Pleasantville, Twilight, Cruel Intentions, and Election. Meanwhile, Josh Brolin, the third lead, presents Bryce as a shallow, self-centered jerk who is irritating by design.
These days, most thrillers are loud, brazen, and filled with MTV-style quick cuts. It's refreshing to come across a small film like Best Laid Plans that emphasizes story, characters, and acting over style and adrenaline (not that those qualities don't have their place). The dialogue snaps and crackles, but doesn't get carried away with its own cleverness (a flaw in too many movies like this). Best Laid Plans isn't the kind of motion picture that's going to linger in the mind or the memory, but, while you're in the theater watching it, the movie offers 90 minutes of solid, unpretentious entertainment.
© 1999 James Berardinelli