Review of A Simple Favor (2018) by Arianne H — 14 Sep 2018

And THIS is why I avoid people!

A SIMPLE FAVOR.

Anna Kendrick & Blake Lively are really stepping outta their elements with this movie. Will this shakeup prove positive? Let's see...

I was wrong, this duo are fully in their element! Turns out, this is a murder mystery comedy with a touch of action & suspense! And it was awesome! At just under 2 hours, the story moves at a fairly steady pace. While there were a few flashbacks, this film didn't feel nearly as cut up or plodding as some I've seen recently.

The cast really did a bang-up job here! Anna Kendrick, having shaken off the millstone that is Twilight, has fully blossomed into an actor really worth seeing! I hate musicals, except for Sweeney Todd, Phantom, & Silver Scream (look it up), so I don't know from her musical roles. But if she were half as good in her other post-Twilight films as she is here? She was awesome! She's playing a single mom here, but she still looks so young, she looked more like a big sister in a mom role, but she made me believe it! She brought all her Anna Kendrick-ness into the character, with spellbinding results. I've only seen Blake Lively in Green Lantern & The Shallows, & she was the high point of both films. I honestly didn't know she had it in her, but she was clearly born to play a femme fatal. She was both intimidating, & sympathetic. Will she knife you, or cry on your shoulder? She kept me guessing! Henry Golding as Blake's husband was really good as well. Was he patsy or partner? Saint or sinner? He was brilliant! The rest of the cast did great. Some adding a bit of Greek Choir style comedy, while others helped build the plot, no one fell short.

The music fit the tone like a velvet glove, especially the end credit theme!

If this film weren't so clean, I'd swear it was a Grindhouse Flick! From minuet 1, the music puts you in a Tarantino kinda mood. And then the characters show up, the story weaves it's tapestry, & you think "yeah, old Q coulda made this". I'm giving it 4 stars outta 5. Do yourself a favor, check out A Simple Favor!