Coming off of huge box office successes such as Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), Spy (2015) and I’ll even throw in Ghostbusters (2016), director Paul Feig can seem to do no wrong. He has been a champion for female actors, allowing them to get the recognition they deserve by putting them in positions to thrive. His latest work has a twist to it that separates it from his normal formula. On the surface, A Simple Favor looks to be like a bit of a gamble with Feig moving away from his bread and butter (comedy), opting instead for a project that falls more so into the thriller category. What might the final verdict be of this new avenue?
Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a mommy vlogger and somewhat of a loner until an unexpected friendship blossoms. When another mom, Emily (Blake Lively), crashes Stephanie’s humdrum ,structured and safe life, everything is about to change. Through the friendship of their sons, these two moms with nothing in common end up developing an unlikely bond. While Stephanie is bubbly and transparent as they come, Emily’s existence is the exact opposite. She’s brash, self-absorbed and is truly mysterious in regards to her past. One day Emily just vanishes which leads to Stephanie putting her best detective foot forward while seeking answers and making sense of this entire bizarre situation. The more Stephanie digs the weirder things become. Questions up questions arise, as this story gets darker and more twisted the deeper it goes.
Paul Feig has done it again. He plucked Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively to play opposite one another and it totally works. Audiences will be pulled into A Simple Favor and they won’t want to leave. While validating itself as a solid crime drama, the familiar comedic moments are not sacrificed at all. As a matter of fact, this one could be considered one of Feig’s funniest features due to its constant change of pace from drama to thriller to comedy over and over again. You can’t get comfortable with one emotion before a totally different one just smacks you on the face. Adding Henry Golding, fresh off the heels of another box office titan in Crazy Rich Asians, gives audiences yet another talented actor to stare at for the next almost two hours.
A Simple Favor is not your typical crime drama. It takes on more of a Alfred Hitchcock vibe while keeping Feig’s harsh but hilarious comedy around to lighten the mood throughout. There is just so much to like out this movie. It is smartly written (thanks to the bestselling novel written by Darcey Bell and published only a year and a half ago), brilliantly directed and magnificently cast. Being in a crowded room of R-rated theatrical releases this weekend, this one easily wins the prize for best movie to see in theaters this weekend. It’s nice to see a movie that is smartly written and well acted. Over the last month or so, there have been, surprisingly I might, several movies that I’d consider to be some of the finest films of the year. Releasing in August and September, this feat is even more impressive. If you can only manage to see one movie this weekend, I would strongly suggest that you make A Simple Favor your top choice.
