During last week’s review of White Boy Rick, I suggested that readers go see A Simple Favor instead despite not
having seen it myself. Not wanting to be a hypocrite, I decided to check it out,
not knowing exactly what I was getting into. (That, and The Sisters Brothers isn’t playing anywhere near me for some
reason.) Admittedly, I was a little hesitant at first since I’m not the biggest
fan of Paul Fieg’s previous work, but what caught my interest was that it was a
huge departure from his typical, and I think that played a small part in why I
enjoyed it so much.
Our story follows a chirpy, overachieving single mom named Stephanie
(Anna Kendrick), who runs her own lifestyle vlog channel that makes her a
pariah among the local parents. Through their sons, she befriends Emily (Blake
Lively), a sexy, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking publicist for a high-end fashion
company who lives in a lavish modern home with her author husband Sean (Henry
Golding). Despite being polar opposites, the two become fast friends, with
Emily enjoying the free babysitting and Stephanie simply relieved that someone
over the age of 7 wants to talk to her. One day, Emily asks Stephanie to pick
up her son from school, and doesn’t show up for three days. This worries
Stephanie and seemingly no one else, but when the circumstances surrounding her
friend’s disappearance don’t add up, she realizes that something is amiss and takes
it upon herself to find the truth.
A Simple Favor is
a movie that starts off as one thing, but by the end becomes something else
entirely. At first, you think you’re going to get another odd-couple pairing find
out they have more in common than they think, but once the plot starts twisting
and turning, its façade starts peeling away to reveal something far more
sinister. It’s like if Grace &
Frankie suddenly turned into Gone
Girl halfway through. It sounds weird, but considering that potboiler
whodunnit murder mysteries and lighthearted buddy comedies both tend to have a
large mom-centric demographic, I’m surprised no one has tried to capitalize on
this overlap sooner.
Well, maybe “lighthearted” isn’t exactly the right word
here. While the tone and delivery of the comedy is reminiscent of a romcom, the
subjects they make light of are more edgy than that kind of delivery would warrant.
Throw in a Saul Bass inspired credit sequence and a vintage French pop
soundtrack, and you got a recipe for some tonal dissonance. The script from The L Word and American Horror Story writer Jessica Sharzer manage these
conflicting disparate tones, but Paul Fieg’s filming style is much better
suited for comedies with flexible scripts that leave a lot of room for improv,
and while he does nicely with something more tightly edited and scripted, the
habits of his wheelhouse are still apparent in parts. There’s a moment early on
where Stephanie drunkenly confesses a shocking, tragic detail of her past to
Emily, and while it builds up her backstory showing she’s not as straight-laced
and prim and proper as we’re led to believe, the way it’s framed hints that
Emily will weaponize this revelation against her at some point, but then that
never happens. The big scam it’s building up to is also incredibly convoluted
and soapy as the twists keep piling up, favoring a flurry of rapid-fire twists over
one big hard-hitting blow.
The performances are what sell it, though. Anna Kendrick and
Blake Lively are both perfectly cast in their respective roles. Kendrick fills
in the role of a mousy, guileless, borderline clueless woman who
overcompensates for her loneliness by being a super mom, and most of the comedic
heavy lifting is given to her. Lively, on the other hand, steals the show as
the cynical ice queen Emily who takes Cersei Lannister levels of glee in
manipulating people and toying with their lives. Special praise must go to the
costume designers. Kendrick’s docility is apparent in her choice of polka dot
sweaters and socks with kittens on them, while Lively cleans up well in tailored
menswear, making their polarity all the more present.
Bottom line, A Simple
Favor is a witty, suspenseful thriller that’s more than meets the eye, and
a nice change of pace for Paul Feig that I hope he keeps up. I can’t help but
feel this would go down as a modern classic if the script were being handled by
someone like David Fincher or Denis Milleneuve, but while the plot is a bit
unruly in places, the two leads have undeniable chemistry that make the ride
worth your while. For what it is, it’s a nice afternoon cocktail, even if it
doesn’t go down very smoothly.
7/10
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