(3 / 4)
A delightfully crazy cocktail of crime thriller elements and knowing winks makes A Simple Favor a wildly entertaining parody of past domestic mysteries Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.
A Simple Favor is the latest mystery thriller adapted from a bestselling novel featuring the unreliable narrator storytelling technique and taking place in the false security of the suburbs. Watching the trailer and reading the synopsis, it would be easy to write off the story as a second-rate version of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, as the influences from this smash hit are readily apparent. Interestingly enough, the 2017 Darcey Bell novel’s similarity to the 2014 smash hit was the very reason movie studios were clamoring to obtain the film rights prior to the book’s publication. With funnyman Paul Feig at the helm though it becomes clear that much like the central mystery of Emily’s disappearance, there is more to this tale than meets the eye.
As with most domestic thrillers we find our story nestled in a family friendly suburb in which we are introduced to Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick), an exuberant type A single mom and vlogger who is secretly maligned by her fellow school moms for her zestful parenting. One day Stephanie’s son Miles strikes up a bond with a classmate named Nicky who is the son of the strikingly glamorous Emily (Blake Lively). After Miles and Nicky plead with Stephanie to have a playdate, it isn’t long before the two women bond over drinks at Emily’s posh household. Stephanie is immediately drawn to Emily as she is in many regards the antithesis to herself. Between her high-profile job as a PR director, immaculate wardrobe, and impetuously assertive manner, Stephanie sees Emily as possessing many of the traits she lacks and secretly yearns for.
After weeks of spending time with one another, we find that Stephanie is increasingly confiding more and more of her secrets with her new “friend,” while Emily remains enigmatic. Her angry response to Stephanie snapping a candid photo of her being particularly suspicious. One day, out of the blue, Emily asks Stephanie for the simple favor of picking her son up from school. Stephanie immediately agrees, but Emily never returns home, simply vanishing without a word to anyone. Stephanie works with Emily’s husband Sean (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding) in a frantic effort to trace her last whereabouts in the hope of locating her and discovering what happened. What ensues are a series of twists and turns wherein with each new development you grow increasingly less certain of who is in control and who will ultimately come out on top when the film reaches its insane conclusion.
Although this description may sound extraordinarily dour, through Feig’s direction, the film is told through a surprisingly comedic almost farcical lens. Feig is no stranger to parody, having already tackled the buddy cop and spy genres with The Heat and Spy, however, with A Simple Favor the story is played straight for the most part without many overt instances of comedy. This decision not only allows the film to overcome some of the more clichéd moments by brilliantly playing them off as jokes, but also uses them to its advantage, as the absurdity of the tired plot turns of this genre end up being hilariously amusing rather than groan worthy. What’s more, this approach enables the film to have its cake and eat it too, as A Simple Favor still succeeds as a compelling mystery that will satisfy fans of domestic crime thrillers, while simultaneously poking fun at the tropes associated with the genre by heightening everything to a satirical level.
As with Feig’s past work that has featured compelling female relationships at the core of the story, A Simple Favor fulfills this in spades thanks to the electric chemistry between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. Kendrick’s typically adorkable personality plays so well against Lively’s uninhibited and commanding performance that the screen immediately lights up whenever the two share a scene together. This makes it disappointing when Lively is absent for large portions of the film, as Kendrick, despite being a riot, doesn’t quite share that same spark with her other castmates. Henry Golding is given very little to do as Emily’s husband Sean, which seems like a missed opportunity considering that many chapters from the novel come from his character’s point of view.
Despite this hybrid approach working overall, there are times when the film toes the line between drama and comedy so evenly that it becomes a bit unclear what it is aiming for. The film is neither consistently laugh-out-loud funny or a darkly disturbing thriller, as it refuses to commit to either category. It ends up falling in the middle of the spectrum, which could be confusing to viewers expecting a straightforward mystery.
The film’s blend of comedy and drama makes it a bit difficult to assess, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see my fondness for the film growing over time, as I admire the film’s approach to the more melodramatic material. For anyone who is a fan of stories like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, A Simple Favor is not to be missed.
