Nick (Alessandro Nivola) is stuck working at a recycling plant – one of the few places in his sleepy hometown where he can make enough money to survive. After his father passes away, Nick figures he’ll inherit enough money to make a break for life in the city, but in steps the taxman to snuff that dream out quickly. Poor Nick. Opportunity comes knocking on his door once again with an offer of $10,000 just to drive a getaway car as his friend steals a drug dealer’s big bag of cocaine. Unfortunately, the dealer finds out and demands Nick pay him the $10,000 plus an extra $5,000 to compensate him for his time, and he needs to pay it by the end of the week. But Nick never got paid for his services. Quite the predicament he’s in. This is further complicated when his friend Bryce (Josh Brolin), an old high school buddy, calls to report that he picked up a 16-year old beauty (Reese Witherspoon) and she’s now threatening to slap a statutory rape suit on him. Bryce is calling because he decided it would be best to take the girl hostage and see what Nick thinks.
It looks as though Nick’s got his fair share of problems. But all is not what it seems in Best Laid Plans, a stylish film with more twists than a candy cane. Nearly every scene raises the stakes further, until you begin to wonder what could possibly happen next. Unfortunately, the film’s final twist isn’t up to the same standard.
The most obvious strength of Best Laid Plans is the cinematography and locations. Using a slick update on the film noir style, nearly every shot is a wonder to behold. Beautiful locales, beautiful people and beautiful colors make this movie very easy to look at.
In addition, the storyline is of the sort that keeps you on your toes. Many good films have a major plot twist that makes you reconsider all that’s come before. Best Laid Plans has many of these. Scene after scene, minute after minute, the stakes are raised with each rejection of the obvious. Everyone in town is a chameleon, and their true colors can only be shown in the most desperate of situations. Unfortunately, all these twists and turns build to a climax that is downright absurd. If the earlier momentum had been maintained right to the end, then Best Laid Plans would have been something special. But instead, it’s just a pretty good movie dragged down by an awful ending.
