Movies of 1998 Bracket Game: Saving Private Ryan Vs. A Simple Plan


1998 is right in the middle of an era in cinema that I have great affection for. The success of former video store employee Quentin Tarantino had been hugely influential and motivated a general expanded interest in independent film and in the value of both movie trivia and the expertise of your local hole-in-the-wall movie rental clerk. Many of the bigger studios had scrambled to put together projects and promote filmmakers who would help to bolster their street credibility and make them seem in tune with the times. While at moments this resulted in some movies that only had the markers associated with the sort of stuff they thought we wanted to see, but none of the genuine connection with the material that had made it interesting to begin with, I’d say the overall result was positive. Creative and idiosyncratic efforts were more likely to get the green light, and I consider that to be a good thing. At the same time, we were still getting a lot of very mainstream movies with pretty varied results, which served to remind us both of the value of earlier studio approaches and of the corporate malaise that independent films were in part a reaction against. It was a fine time to be a movie fan.
Join us here at LeBlog over the next couple of weeks as we take a look back at the film landscape of twenty years ago and help us decide which of our pre-selected movies from 1998 is the best of the bunch. Is it a smaller independent film, a highly-touted prestige film, or one of those aforementioned big dumb action flicks?

Traditionally, we spend a few moments here addressing some of our choices in building the bracket in question. I’m sure as you take a look at it a couple of things will stand out to you. Yes, I included Deep Impact for the sole purpose of matching it up in the first round against Armageddon. One of the trends of the time which was still prevalent was the release of movies with similar themes or plots by more than one studio. It was the cinematic equivalent of opening a Burger King across the street from a McDonald’s. While I think we’re all pretty sure where that matchup will go, I felt like including it helps reflect 1998 well. You will also notice that Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare In Love have been placed on opposite ends of the bracket. This means that if we’re going to once again address this very contentious one-on-one matchup here at LeBlog that both movies will have to fight their way to the championship round first. Saving Private Ryan has been placed in what is generally the “action/drama” half of the bracket, while Shakespeare in Love will be facing off against comedies and award-winners. On first glance, Spielberg’s war drama appears to have an easier path to the final than Will and Viola. It is probably no secret that I think the Academy made the right call that year, but hopefully by placing Shakespeare in Love in the tougher half of the bracket I have mitigated what might be seen as bias on my part. Let’s get started, shall we?

Steven Spielberg’s World War II drama Saving Private Ryan had a lot going for it even prior to its release when audiences first got a glimpse at it. Simply the pairing of the already legendary director with Tom Hanks, who was still considered one of the top A-list actors caught the attention. I personally saw the poster for it before I had heard about the movie in any other way. This was still in the early days of the internet, so such a thing was not uncommon. Then the trailer dropped, and it was clear that this film was being positioned as very important. In addition to Spielberg and Hanks, they even got John Williams to write the score. On its release in July, Saving Private Ryan immediately grabbed success at the box office, holding onto the number one spot for a full month and sticking solidly in the top ten deep into autumn. The film saw a resurgence at the box office in February after it received eleven Academy Award nominations, and eventually has been recognized by Box Office Mojo as the highest-grossing film at the American box office released in 1998. The film would win five Academy Awards, including Best Director for Spielberg as well as Best Editing and Best Cinematography. It would rake it a bevy of awards from a long list of sources, including at least fifteen “Best Picture” equivalents. Only its loss at BAFTA was a real indicator that it might not take home the ultimate Best Picture prize at the Oscars ceremony. Despite what some people consider a puzzling defeat that night (or perhaps in part because of it), Saving Private Ryan has maintained a strong place in the hearts of many film fans. Here, take a look at that trailer.

Our second competitor in today’s matchup cut a much more humble figure as it creeped its way onto just thirty-one screens in December of 1998. Although the book it was based on garnered immediate attention from film companies, and its rights were snapped up by Mike Nichols, the project became mired in development, first with Nichols having to step away due to scheduling conflicts, then with Ben Stiller and John Dahl passing on the opportunity to direct it and John Boorman stepping down (also due to a scheduling conflict) before Sam Raimi was finally brought on to the helm. In the process of all of this director juggling, the film lost its intended lead in Nicholas Cage. Eventual leads Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton had been set to begin filming with John Boorman in 1997 when the project fell through, an event that Paxton later described as being a “cruel twist.” At the time it looked to Paxton and others like A Simple Plan might never actually get made, at least not with the intended cast and crew, but when Sam Raimi joined in, he hit the ground running, keeping the core cast and saving money by depending on the location scouting which had already been done by Boorman’s team. For those who are very familiar with Raimi’s most memorable movies, A simple Plan might seem like a real departure for him, and the director took the job intentionally as an opportunity to try something more character driven and less dependent on stylized production and creative camera movement. The film would eventually gain attention when it received plaudits after a screening at the Toronto Film Festival and garnered awards attention for Scott B. Smith’s script and Billy Bob Thornton’s supporting performance, including Oscar nominations in those categories. Although A Simple Plan never developed into a financial success for Paramount, the film continues to have a loyal fan base that considers it criminally underrated.

Wow, that’s quite a lot of the plot for A Simple Plan in the trailer there, isn’t it? So what do you think? Are you backing the obvious choice headed by Spielberg, Hanks, and Williams or do you prefer the smaller production besieged by stops and starts brought to you by Sam Raimi, Bill Paxton, and Danny Elfman (yeah that’s right)?

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
lebeau
Admin
6 years ago

I am going to hold off weighing in on the Great Oscar Debate for now. I’m pretty sure we have had that conversation before and I don’t have strong opinions either way. I watched both Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love one time each. Liked them both. Feel no need to rewatch them. Prediction: This game will not come down to Saving Private Ryan vs. Shakespeare in Love I have watched A Simple Plan multiple times. Yes, it’s a bit of Fargo-lite. But I really liked Fargo. Great performances from the cast including the best of Bridget Fonda’s career.… Read more »

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  daffystardust

I don’t have a lot of faith in my own predictions. All I can say is I voted against Private Ryan this round and will do so again if it advances to round 2. Out of Sight is my favorite movie of the year, so I’m not sure Private Ryan got the easier path. I am guessing Shakespeare’s toughest competition will be The Big Lebowski, but I can easily see it making its way to the semi-finals.
Time will tell. I was probably less than 50/50 in my predictions for the game I ran, so what do I know?

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

I wouldn’t count out RUSHMORE going against SIL in the the first round. That will get MY vote.

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  robbushblog

Certainly possible. That’s probably where my vote will go as well.

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago

I hate that A SIMPLE PLAN will be leaving so early. I also think it is woefully underrated. My vote goes to SPR though.

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago

When it comes time to vote between the meteor movies, my vote will be with DEEP IMPACT, a movie I expected little from and was not disappointed, while ARMAGEDDON was highly anticipated and a flaming pile of poo. 🙂

jeffthewildman
6 years ago
Reply to  daffystardust

That oen will likely go for Armageddon. Neither film is really all that good. But Armageddon seems to have still maintained an audience over the years.

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

Which I don’t understand.

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

I don’t know. I hear about Armageddon more than I do Deep Impact. But I haven’t heard anyone say anything good about Armageddon in about 20 years. It’s become the poster boy for Michael Bay crap.

jeffthewildman
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

I’ll damn Armageddon with the faintest of praise and say that it’s easily the last tolerable Michael Bay movie. Of course, it was all downhill from there.
Neither film has aged particularly well and neither was really particularly good to begin with. I’ll go into more when the actual bracket arrives. I will say that the Armageddon soundtrack was the moment when Aerosmith jumped the shark.

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

I liked PAIN AND GAIN.

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

Back in 1998 I remember watching Armageddon in a go-to-the-movies-and enjoy-the-dumb-fun-onscreen sort of way that I struggle to do much anymore nowadays (one of the problems with growing older, I suppose; you wind up picking everything apart because it has little to do with reality). I’m not sure if I grew any smarter in these last 20 years, but I now have a much harder time enjoying these dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks. But I’ll freely admit I enjoyed it as a popcorn spectacle 20 years ago. By the way, the one Michael Bay movie that I legitimately do enjoy to this day is… Read more »

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

THE ROCK is unquestionably his best. Agreed.

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  robbushblog

I only saw the first half of The Island, but what I saw was pretty good. I liked Bad Boys the one and only time I ever saw it, but that may have been due to low expectations.

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

Since you asked (someone asked, right?) I have a vivid memory of seeing Armageddon in theaters. On second thought, maybe I should save this story for that bracket… Someone ask me when we get there.

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

I get it Lebeau, don’t give out your goodies all at once. I’m patient, I can wait until the next round to hear your Armageddon story. As far as The Island, I completely forgot about that. The Island was actually quite enjoyable. And also, from the way I interpreted it at least, Ewan McGregor’s legitimate attempt to headline a true-blue big-budget blockbuster on his own to move up to the big leagues. Sure, Ewan had a big part in the Star Wars prequels, and they gave him tons of exposure (they were my introduction to him for sure), but this… Read more »

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

I may have over-sold it. 😉
I think The Island was mismarketed. Sometimes, you can be too secretive. All anyone knew about it was it was a Michael Bay movie. People who might have liked it stayed away for that reason.
I can’t offer a full explanation of Ewan McGregor’s failure to become an A-list leading man. At least, not off the top of my head. But I think there are similarities between his career and Jude Law’s.

jeffthewildman
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

The Rock is definitely his best. Forgot about Pain And Gain. Bad Boys 2 I can enjoy on a certain guilty pleasure level, much like the original. The rest of his work (aside form maybe The Island which i haven’t seen) is a crapshoot of course.

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  robbushblog

Not to tip my hand early, but I will be doing the same thing. Whichever movie wins won’t make it past round 2.

robbushblog
robbushblog
6 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

That’s a near certainty.

jeffthewildman
6 years ago

Looking over the brackets, I find myself observing that over half of my personal top ten of that year made it on to the list: Simple Plan, Out Of Sight, Truman, Lebowski, Ronin, Pleasantville, and Something About Mary (the others were Dark City (my number one of the year), Bulworth and The Negotiator). Of course that means that some of the choices are going to be pretty tough. But hey… As for this one, I’m going for the underdog. A Simple Plan is a film I have watched more than once and as I noted above, consider to be one… Read more »

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffthewildman

For my money, SPR is one great scene that kicks of a movie that will never again reach those heights. The rest of the movie is good, but not great.
I’ll give a little love to Dark City. The Pre-Martix.

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
6 years ago

I’m just wondering, has anybody ever actually read Scott Smith’s novel A Simple Plan, which the film is based upon?

lebeau
Admin
6 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

I have not. There is a Movieline article on the site in which the magazine’s writers made suggestions for up-and-coming actresses and they recommended Winona Ryder take the Bridget Fonda part. Here is what they had to say four years before the movie eventually got made: But as long as we’re talking ’90s, a more interesting alternative ideal role could be found in Scott Smith’s A Simple Plan, a 1993 novel that Mike Nichols has already optioned the film rights to. This story will require some crucial changes if it’s ever to be adapted to the screen, so one of… Read more »

forever1267
6 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

I have. It is taut and thrilling and unputdownable. The climax is different, and even more violent, and the twist is an absolute stunner. Terrific book. Terrific movie.

jestak2
Editor
6 years ago

The norm in these bracket games is that there are one or more very good, worthy films that exit in the first round, which is what appears to be happening here to A Simple Plan, a very good contemporary noir that is just not quite on the same level with Saving Private Ryan.

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x