A Simple Favor (2018) review

Dir. Paul Feig

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

A Simple Favor is the cinematic equivalent of a trashy beach-read. An impressively choreographed blend of snarky humor, tension, and lurid escapism, the film too represents a turning point for director Paul Feig — optimistically speaking. The man who helmed Spy, The Heat, and the new Ghostbusters reboot shows that compelling, medium-budget mysteries are in his wheelhouse as well. Hopefully he moves on from tired Melissa McCarthy vehicles and upgrades to what feels like a Bugatti by comparison.

The film introduces Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) right off the bat. She’s a single mother who has cultivated a loyal internet following thanks to her “mommy vlogs” that show her in the kitchen, prepping gourmet dinners with all the fruits and vegetables your little angel would need to stay healthy and happy. At her son’s school, she’s known as the type of mom who willingly signs herself up for multiple roles for any given school event before the other parents even have a chance to look at the sign-up sheet and groan before reluctantly volunteering themselves. Stephanie, however, works herself to the point of alienation from the other parents (led by Andrew Rannells), until Emily (Blake Lively), a glamorous and blunt PR executive, invites her over for a playdate with frozen-gin martinis. Stephanie soon falls for Emily’s modern home and tailored life, while enjoying her no-holds-barred personality in contrast with her type A tendencies.

Emily is married to Sean (Crazy Rich Asians‘ Henry Golding), a failed author. Both Stephanie and Sean grow closer when Emily abruptly dumps her son on Stephanie in lieu of an urgent crisis but fails to return after almost a week. The authorities are notified, Stephanie plays amateur detective, and soon enough, a web of secrets begins to spin a troubling picture of Emily’s perceived life and extravagant riches.

A Simple Favor has been compared quite heavily to David Fincher’s Gone Girl for somewhat obvious reasons. Both films are inspired by well-regarded novels, focus on sly and tricky female characters, and involve the disappearances of one of those ladies who was put on a pedestal of sorts by the person who eventually becomes a prime suspect. I can’t speak for both of these works in terms of their written counterparts, but as films, the glaring difference between the two is one was directed by a famously crafty, genre-bending director and the other a man who has specialized in female-centered comedies and dramas for most of his career. What I’m trying to say is that A Simple Favor is considerably less weighty and not as effective in the suspense department because, frankly, it isn’t trying to replicate its assigned sister-film’s great success. Screenwriter Jessica Sharzer (The L Word, American Horror Story) focuses her sights on making a languid, stylistically potent affair with prickly comedy as opposed to prolific sucker-punches.

The end result is a film that succeeds because it knows its playing field on top of having two strikingly detail-oriented performances in both Kendrick and Lively. Kendrick shows her range as an actress (like we ever doubted she had it in her), from a practically obsessive-compulsive mother to an obsessive and motivated friend left hanging by the sudden disappearance of the closest thing she’s had to a confidant in a while. Lively is also compelling in the brutally honest, unflinching way she knows how, and both actresses prompt giddy howls with their snarky tones and perfectly timed vocal inflections to highlight attitude — something this picture has in droves.

Furthermore, if you took the antiseptic affluence of this year’s unsung gem Thoroughbreds and crossed it with the minimalism and modernity of Saul Bass art, you’d have the cold and bougie cinematography John Schwartzman (Jurassic World, Seabiscuit) achieves with the film. With sleek chic as if to compliment a sometimes devilishly clever screenplay and a keen eye for simultaneous decor and vapidity in its presentation of high-class, Schwartzman exploits the trashiness of the characters and the screenplay by showing it all as glamorous. With a soundtrack complimented by French art-pop (including the sassy song “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” by April March, better known in the States as “Chick Habit,” the English version of the track), A Simple Favor blindsides us with its style while affirming what we already (should) known about Kendrick and Lively.

This is a clever and engrossing film. Again, one more comparable to a trashy daytime novel than the latest, edge-of-your-seat mystery. The key, if you could boil it down to one overarching attribute, is Sharzer’s screenplay, effectively balancing its tone between lightweight humor and disturbing escapist fantasy, the likes of which never losing its way despite being two hours long. But glory to all and this beautiful, hot mess they’ve made.

My review of Another Simple Favor

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Kelly McCormack, and Rupert Friend. Directed by: Paul Feig.