What makes it different from others?

Some things I liked some I did not.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

A seemingly simple plan to steal money goes increasingly awry.We get Reese Witherspoon and Josh Brolin (who would later reunite in "Inherent Vice") and some other people. And we get them before they got really big. So that is something special, especially because this film seems to have largely gone under the radar."Best Laid Plans" received mixed reviews from critics and currently holds a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This is somewhat understandable, because the plot is not as clear as it perhaps should be, and at times the acting borders on the melodramatic. But the overly story is good, and looking back now (2015) there is much to like from these up-and-coming actors.

First of all (Alessandro Nivola) can't act, his provocative dead features ruined all of it. (Reese Witherspoon) is another provocative face but at least she gave her role some creditability and effort. So.. What was that anyway ? : An invitation to finance the collage students ? A good warning for everyone to "Never Trust Anybody" ! Or it's a helluva way to spent a night ! As a movie with a lead that owns nearly every cadre of it; it's one big failure, and it deserves it, because casting (Nivola) was exactly like casting a corpse to handle the job. He didn't make any respectable attempt to persuade, I bet this dude had watched too many Marlon Brando's movies and studied them BADLY I can tell you that ! Look at him seeing a flat tire in his car.. What a flat expression !! He can be sad, disappointed, angry, flirty, surprised, meditative, scared all by the same forever frozen countenance ! I gave him definitely the ultimate 0 out of 10. God.. Even losers like (Jay Mohr) can show more vitality than him ! PLUS how (Mike Barker)'s direction looked pedantic and tasteless. For instance, some of the scenes were overdone; they filmed the first telling of the story (from the confused professor to his friend) with a camera running with the 2 actors in circles??!!, the lighting insisted on being a forever sick yellow. The music, very much like the lead, didn't do anything to the whole story. Add to that : Some strange dramatic doings; the professor wants to kill the girl to end the night peacefully !, the drug dealer talking like an economic high expert and the lead doesn't concern !?? I said to myself Hey.. It's such a renewal in stereotype character to discover that it's just an idiocy!. Observe the performance to feel how bad the direction was, (Josh Brolin) was the best of it but even when he looks at the dead girl comes-to-life at the end he was for moment stricken by contagion of his fellow actor's dull expressions ! It's not a very good Noir about such situation of unbalanced community full of exploiters, thieves, bloodsuckers, backstabbers, where everybody scheming everybody, and the word "friendship" doesn't exist. Though it was close to that. Anyhow I had a terrible night watching this and I'm sorry to say it : this is one of those rare movies where I ask myself what did you enjoy in it? To replay: I enjoyed nothing !

A mild-mannered blue-collar worker stuck in the minimum-wage blues plots to steal a valuable document from the estate where an old college friend is currently housesitting; he gets his girlfriend involved, but will vengeful thugs spoil their plans? Not so much a psychological thriller as a shaggy dog story, a black comedy filled with indecisive, unbelievable losers. Ted Griffin wrote the screenplay, and his dialogue is mind-bogglingly ludicrous (at one point, frustrated Josh Brolin cries, "I just wanted to get laid, instead I got f****d!"). This low-level of wit permeates everything in the scenario, turning nearly all the plot-points into dumb red herrings (the peanuts, the cigarette fire, the neon signs, even the song playing on the car radio!). Reese Witherspoon co-stars, and she's green enough to go along but professional enough not to look very enthused about it. The male leads are filled by Alessandro Nivola, a Jeremy Piven lookalike with a tight little smirk, and Brolin, who continually talks too loud and seems unsure what to project with his body language (he alternately stands stock still or moves about waving his arms). There's always a stupid-clause in pictures like these (with the proviso being, if there wasn't one--there would be no movie). Here it arrives with Nivola giving Brolin a ride even though he doesn't want him along. Brolin's excuse for coming: he's hungry. I was, too, after watching this fatally undernourished modern noir. *1/2 from ****

This is an excellent thriller, that's quite suspenseful and tense, with some great plot twists, and top notch performances!. All the characters are awesome, and the story is really good as well, plus Reese Witherspoon is simply amazing in this!. Alessandro Nivola is fantastic as the main lead and had excellent chemistry with Reese, and Josh Brolin plays the irritating prick of a professor extremely well, plus It's very unpredictable throughout. It's also nicely old fashioned, and it's very well written and made, plus the ending was completely unexpected, as I absolutely loved it!. One part that was quite tense and me cringe was when the main villain(Terrence Howard), spays pop up a guy's nose, and you are able to care for Nivola's and Reese's characters because you know there both good people and need to do this to get out of a bad situation, plus it's a great film/noir film as well. This is a true underrated gem in my opinion, and it's also quite creepy at times as well, plus It's also quite clever as well. This is an excellent thriller, that's quite suspenseful and tense, with some great plot twists, and top notch performances, and I say it's a must see for everyone!. The Direction is excellent!. Mike Barker does an excellent! job here with awesome camera work, very good angles, adding creepy atmosphere and keeping the film suspenseful and at a very fast pace. The Acting is top notch!. Alessandro Nivola is fantastic as the main lead, he is extremely likable, had excellent chemistry with Reese, and was very intense in some scenes, I have never seen him In anything before, but he was fantastic here, I loved him!. Reese Witherspoon is amazing as always and is amazing here, she is stunningly gorgeous, is extremely likable, had fantastic chemistry with Nivola, was incredibly sweet, as she is especially good in the opening segment as that was a real intense one, she was just a normal down too earth type of woman, and was very believable! (Reese rules!!!!!!!!!!). Josh Brolin is extremely convincing as the prick of a professor, he was very irritating and only cared about himself, I hated him, he was really good. Terrence Howard is good in his scenes as the villain, and was quite menacing. Rest of the cast are fine. Overall a must see for everyone!. ****1/2 out of 5