Review of A Simple Favor (2018) by Hector V — 17 Sep 2018

After being asked for "a simple favor" by her best friend, Emily (Blake Lively), the darkly enigmatic woman's total disappearance sends single mother Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) into a spiral of mystery, passion, and shocking discoveries. As she searches for clues on Emily's location around town, Stephanie learns that neither she nor anybody else around her knew the woman very well at all.

Take every trashy supermarket novel and Lifetime Network movie cliché imaginable, stew them together into a pot, and you've got yourself Paul Feig's newest film, "A Simple Favor". That's not a bad thing at all, though, thanks to Feig's strong direction and a wickedly talented cast led by the always phenomenal Anna Kendrick.

As should be expected, Feig's foray into the psychological, erotic thriller genre continues favoring his comedic side. It's weird; the two styles are balanced perfectly, yet totally separately. The mystery of Emily's disappearance is full of thrills and intrigue, but the character in focus, Kendrick's meek, awkward Stephanie, is all laughs, all the time. Somehow, it all works.

With any other actress in the lead, "A Simple Favor" would likely fall just above or below the line of mediocrity. The comedy might feel off in relation to the rest of the serious thrills and chills, but Kendrick sells her character with so much energy and enthusiasm you'd be hard pressed to not fall completely in love with Stephanie. Kendrick's comedic timing is on point with every single line, mannerism, and endearing little fumble she makes, and when the film gets down to the nitty gritty mystery, she never feels out of place. It's easily one of the most fun performances of the year.

On the other hand, Blake Lively is a big downer every time she's on screen. Emily is all pins and needles as the plot's person of intrigue-her vulgar, careless attitude is as off-putting as the rugged naked painting she hangs on her decorous wall. Lively's chemistry with Kenrick doesn't vibe all the way, but regardless, she's well in tune with the imposing role and plays it as it demands.

This swath of strong characters-including Henry Golding's second star-making role this year, this time as Emily's husband-click really well for the first act of the film as the narrative sizzles into Emily's vanishing. Their arcs then are built up and up, only to feel oddly cut off at a good, but confusing finale, character-wise. Once Stephanie starts digging into Emily's private life and the Lifetime and contemporary penny dreadful thriller tropes start to rear their heads, "A Simple Favor" boils, eventually coming down to a somewhat predictable, but still captivating simmer.

It's surprising just how many and how seamlessly these platitudes are woven into such a coherent narrative. Pretty much every one imaginable (to name any would spoil the film, but really, just think of anything) makes itself a plot point-it's crazy. As well as they work, though, the film doesn't do much with the tropes apart from presenting them. "A Simple Favor" is based off of a 2017 novel of the same name, but with Feig at the mantle, seeing the film play around with the clichés could have been great fun, and likely would've bumped up it up to a higher score and stronger lasting impression.

It's great seeing Paul Feig back on track after his last, to be unnamed, directorial dud. "A Simple Favor" is a captivating, sexy new thriller, but better yet, it's also a film of endless fun thanks to Anna Kendrick's wonderful lead performance.

Grade: B+.