A (Not So) Simple Plan - Why Taking the Money Never works

As today's blizzard ravages the Island, it's only appropriate I mention this week's film. Unlike the previous entries, this one will only have one post. Let's imagine, for a moment, that you're in the woods, looking for your dog. All of a sudden, you come across a plane with a dead man and $4.4 million in umarked (?) bills. Would you take it, give it over to the police, or divvy it among your friends? However, there could be problems with the money. The original owners could be after it, and no one really knows where it comes from.
A Simple Plan is set in a small town in Minnesota after Christmas. Someone once told me that the opening scene says a lot about the movie's premise. In this case, the story opens with a snowfield and ravens perched in the branches, observing as a fox sneaks into a henhouse and makes his move. Legend states that crows are the harbingers of death; in some cases, they are like vultures, waiting to feast on newly deceased flesh. Others say they represent renewal. For the movie's sake, it's the former.
Snow, meanwhile, is associated with innocence or loneliness. Plenty of winter films utilize snow to create a tense atmosphere or show heartbreak, as seen with The Phantom of the Opera. A Simple Plan showcases snow as tension or lack of peace. As long as Lou, Hank, and Jacob have the money, they can never rest; Lou and his wife get shot down, Hank gets a couple of death threats, and Jacob basically kills himself. There's never any sunshine, only a white sky.
I also want to make a couple of remarks on Hank and Jacob's ramshackle house. At first, Hank is likeable, but as the film goes on, he becomes more and more of a hypocrite. He keeps saying it's for everyone's good, but in all reality, Hank Mitchell is merely selfish. Money can make us do the unthinkable, and many have already posted about Sarah's reaction. However, it's no excuse to keep on lying. The movie stopped before then, but I have a feeling it'll catch up to him eventually and he and Sarah would be arrested. That's just my theory.
Jacob's house, for me, represents lost hopes and prospects. Jacob doesn't have as much going for him as Hank does; he has the "occasional odd-job" and has to visit welfare often. It's not exactly specified how low he sunk, but he wants things to be the way they were before the Mitchells lost the farm. We always search for the finer things in life, and it doesn't always have to be money. However, money kills, and it's not always the bad guys.