Best Laid Plans (1999)

A Seemingly Simple Story That Unravels Its Twists Surprisingly Well

Screenwriter Ted Griffin ('Ocean's Eleven', 'Matchstick Men', 'Rumor Has It', etc) has provided a story for this little film that is successful on many levels: it is a suspenseful mystery, an intelligent look at the Now Generation's unstable approach to life as hopefully handed to them on their parents' goodwill, a mind twister full of surprises, and most of all a metaphor for where we now stand as a consumer world contained in disposable vials. Working with director Mike Barker's keen sense of timing and comic relief, a fine young cast of notable actors drives this story of desperate turns of fate to an unsuspected ending. The trip is worth your attention.

The nowhere/somewhere town setting is Tropico, a dusty boring little place whose reason for existing is a massive recycling plant for discarded containers - just the right setting for a story about little town people who have discarded their dreams. Nick (Alessandro Nivola) works in the recycling plant, basing his hopes for something better on the death of his father and the Will through which he plans to gain a comfortable inheritance. But the Life Insurance policy is negated after an autopsy report reveals a 'preexisting condition' and the remaining assets of his father are owed to the IRS. Nick is broke and in his low state of esteem agrees to be a driver for a drug heist to make enough money to leave boring Tropico. The heist is a bust and Nick is threatened by the owner of the drug stash that he must come up with a large sum of money or else. Nick turns to his girlfriend Lissa (Reese Witherspoon) who also wants to leave Tropico and reluctantly agrees to a complex scam against Nick's old college chum Bryce (Josh Brolin). When that scam falls apart there are even more surprises that keep the story bubbling until the unsuspected conclusion.

Nivola is outstanding in this tricky role and Witherspoon and Brolin are convincing. Of note there is a very brief role for newcomer Terrence Howard - the film was made in 1999 before some of these actors gained notoriety in the Oscars. Though not entirely without flaws, this fascinating study of recyclable people enmeshed in their own wayward schemes is an entertaining and stimulating tour de force for all involved. It is well worth a second look! Grady Harp, September 07
September 7, 2007

Disappointing

A Professor of literature has a woman accuse him of rape. The Professor goes berserk. I won't give more of the story away. Basically, the movie is a thriller and there are two twists in it. The first twist I saw from a mile away but I was surprised about the second one. The good thing about this movie was the romantic story, you felt the actors actually had some chemistry and genuinely cared for each other. This is in contrast to other movies where there is no character development and the romantic portion of the story feels forced.

I was expecting an exciting thriller. The movie's script is average, the acting is OK, and the ending was not that good. For me, there was no likable character in this movie.
March 12, 2007

Another Film du noir

I saw the scene,where they have Lissa chained to the pool table and gagged in the basement.I didn't understand most of the movie. I bet Kim Possible,Ron Stoppabl,and Rufus can deal with them. June 10, 2006

Not the best laid film, but it gets extra points for originality

I must say that 'Best Laid Plans' is in a league of it's own. I have never seen a movie that took me for the turns this film did, and anyone who says that they guessed the ending is just lying to make their hatred for this movie resonate. This film may not be perfect, and there are some boring scenes as they try to hard to explain the state Nick is in, but the overall plot of this film is one I've never seen done before. From the opening scene in the bar when Reese enters till you find her chained up in the basement and she tells Nick "we're screwed" you start to realize that what you think you know, you don't...and thats the case throughout this entire movie. From the start to the finish you have no clue who's involved in what. When Nick (Nivola) makes the bad choice of stealing some dope with friends and his friends are caught he ends up at the bad end of the gun. He has just a few days to get $15,000 or he's going to be worse than dead...Then his friend Brice (Brolin) moves back and Nick and Lissa (Witherspoon) come up with a plan, only it backfires, and then they find a way out of it, but that plan backfires and before you know it their back where they started, litterally. THis movie, for all it's twists and turns and ORIGINALITY, while not being perfect still is a recomended film for anyone who wants to see something fresh and different than the normal popcorn munching drama. 4 1/2 stars. March 22, 2006

Contrived, convoluted, but somewhat watchable

This mostly forgotten thriller starring Reese Witherspoon (Lissa) and Alessandro Nivola (Nick) suffers from a mightily contrived plot and a "Huh?--What happened?" ending. Nick is a guy who works at the local recycling plant (that's a new workplace for celluloid protagonists) who is about to inherit some big bucks from his father who has just kicked the bucket.

Meanwhile some of his coworkers are scheming up a plot to...well, no spoilers here. Let's just say that the viewer does not find out about this plot until the end, and then it seems a little...well, lame.

Along comes Lissa looking mighty fine and they fall in love, although I must say the chemistry certainly didn't spark up the screen. Now comes complication number one: the old man blew almost all his money and what he didn't blow the IRS is grabbing. Because of this Nick gets tempted into driving a get-away car for a drug rip off... Things go awry and Nick ends up in deep doo-doo, and in desperation gets Lissa to help him rip off an old school chum...which... Well, what these people do in desperation is a little on the unbelievable side.

I'm sorry that's all vague, but at least it's enough information to let you know if you actually saw this movie or not. Now, if you like probability-challenged, convoluted plots with loose ends and a lot of unlikely twists and turns, you might find this movie interesting. And if you like Reese, and you should, you might also find a reason for sticking around until the end. I know I did. She does a good job and looks good doing it.

Bottom line: although the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, it can also be said that the most meticulously contrived plots sometimes turn out about as convincing as pseudoscience. Incidentally the title is a paraphrase of the 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns's line: "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft a-gley." December 28, 2005

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