Director: Paul Feig Writer(s): Jessica Sharzer Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Rupert Friend, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho, Bashir Salahuddin
Right then, I want to get this out of the way before I carry on any further: I am going to point out the similarities between A Simple Favor and 2014’s Gone Girl. It is almost impossible not to think about Gone Girl when watching this movie, and that was that was its biggest downfall, for me anyway.
After David Fincher brought Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel to life on the big screen four years ago, receiving critical and financial success, as well as numerous awards and accolades for his efforts, studios the world over have tried to replicate its success on a number of occasions, with varied results. Gone Girl was praised for the direction style, the cast performance especially Pike’s role as Amy Dunne and the ability to keep the audience guessing for almost the entirety of the running time; and the closest we may have seen so far is 2016’s The Girl on the Train, but even that didn’t reach the heights of Ben Affleck’s and Rosamund Pike’s psychological thriller. But now, four years on, Paul Feig tries his hand at attempting to direct the next hit thriller…
Based on the 2017 novel of the same name, written by Darcy Bell, the movie follows the lives of Anna Kendrick’s Mommy-Vlogger Stephanie Smothers, her ‘best friend’ Emily Nelson and her husband Sean Nelson, played by Blake Lively and Henry Golding respectively. We are quickly introduced to the fact that Stephanie doesn’t have many friends, instead choosing to spend most of her time volunteering at her son’s school. So when her son, Miles, want to go on a play date with Emily and Sean’s son, Nicky, Stephanie sees this as a chance to befriend the elusive mother, while Emily sees it as an opportunity for fee child care while she is at work. When an unexpected friendship seemingly starts to blossom, everything takes a turn for the worse when Emily calls Stephanie and asks her for one, simple favour.
And to say any more than that would give the movie’s plot away. Not that there is much of a plot to begin with. Yes, Favor poses countless questions to the audience designed to make you question the character’s reliability, with what we see on screen completely contradicting what the character is telling us at times. But unless you haven’t seen any form of mystery thriller movie before, you are going to work out the answer much earlier than the film ‘reveals’ the truth. And while those who don’t see it coming may enjoy being taken along for the ride, for everyone else it is all just style over substance, and no amount of flashy direction and references to the 1955 French psycho-thriller Les Diaboliques and a Europop soundtrack can distract from a barely believable plot trying to hold it all together.
This is an interesting change of pace for director Paul Feig. Most famously known for writing and directing a string of female led comedies (Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy and most recently Ghostbusters), all of which were met with varying responses from audiences and critics alike. And while at first glance, Favor may come across as just a mystery thriller, it also has a strong vein of Feig’s brand of humour running through it. As the movie wasn’t marketed as a comedy, rather than being a nice surprise, this came as quite a shock when the jokes started to appear, ultimately becoming quite jarring.
Under Feig’s direction, the two genres don’t sit very well together. It completely takes you out of the movie and with all that it is trying to throw at you, jokes added into the mix just don’t help, which is a shame when both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively play their parts so well. They are without a doubt the best parts of this mess of a movie. Both Kendrick and Lively shine in the roles they are given, with Kendrick playing Stephanie so awkwardly that I was beginning to feel embarrassed for her, producing some of the movie’s funniest parts. Blake Lively’s Emily is so ruthless and detached it makes you wonder why the character would even want to settle down in the first place. The pair’s on screen chemistry is great, seeing the pair as complete polar opposites and have the movie’s best moments, but it does little to elevate the plot and tone above anything like unbelievable and incoherent.
The Verdict: Paul Feig’s first foray into thrillers is a very mixed affair. While the plot is completely improbable and the tonal shifts are so jarring they can take you out of the movie at some points, the leading pair plays off each other brilliantly, utterly dominating the screen together. Fans of the director may enjoy the movie, even if it is completely different from his previous offerings, but people looking to see a genuinely good thriller are better off re-watching David Fincher’s Gone Girl.
4/10
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