(2.5/5) crime drama
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Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 45% | Metacritic 40%
I hadn’t heard of Best Laid Plans (199) until it showed up as a Reese Witherspoon Wishlist option on my TiVo. Reese is one of my favourite contemporary actresses. Josh Brolin, who I was impressed with in the recent W. (2008), also plays a supporting role. On the basis of that star-power I set my TiVo to record it.
I was initially disappointed with the movie and was about to delete it. As my finger was hovering over the delete button, a rather surprising plot twist occurred. The twist extended my interest enough to watch it to the end. Unfortunately, while the twist made the movie initially more interesting, the script was poor, the less-than-credible plot unravelled, and the movie hobbled across the finishing line.
I love Reese Witherspoon. She rarely disappoints – even in duds. She was in fine, and radiant, form in this movie. Josh Brolin’s performance was rather poor – certainly not up to the level of his terrific performance in W. Co-star Alessandro Nivola’s performance was adequate.
Conclusion
No amount of acting prowess can save a poor script. Best Laid Plans is not a bad movie, and certainly not a good movie. It’s an average movie, of made-for-TV quality. If you enjoy Reese Witherspoon and want to get a look at some of Josh Brolin’s, pre-W. work, this is a decent-enough movie for a Saturday night.
