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A Simple Favor

A stylish thriller with two outstanding actresses facing off while  playing best friends.

A Simple Favor

Grade: B+

Director: Paul Feig (The Heat, Bridesmaids)

Screenplay:  Jessica Sharzer (Nerve), from Darcey Bell novel

Cast: Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect), Blake Lively (The Shallows)

Rating: R

Runtime: 1 hr 57 min

By: John DeSando

“She's an enigma my wife. You can get close to her, but you never quite reach her. She's like a, beautiful ghost.” Sean (Henry Golding)

After the relatively heavy films I have reviewed lately, viz., The Happy Prince, I am happy to report a film both comical and thrilling, an authentic comedy thriller: A Simple Favor.  While Sean describes above the saucy antagonist, Emily, the shift between comedy and crime is sweetly commandeered by director Paul Feig, whose Bridesmaids became a gold standard for the naughty female comedy.

A Simple Favor with Anna Kendrick as Stephanie and Blake Lively as Emily, who are right out of ancient screwball comedies with sassy repartee, glamour, and larceny to make a delightfully stylish, light-hearted film as antidote to the Oscar-laden competitors so far this fall.

“Every mom knows,” Stephanie says of her hyper Nancy Drewing, “if you want something done right, do it yourself.  The story arc becomes a well-known formula of Stephanie finding out who has murdered Emily. Yet, enjoyment comes as the film makes fun of almost every convention in the thriller canon.

During the setup and first act, Stephanie and Emily exchange barbs and witticisms worthy of the best screwball comedies of the early twentieth century. Both actresses are at their best when they are sparring with each other early in the film.

While a comparison with Gone Girl seems appropriate, Sean’s love affairs are so integral to the plot that he is just as vulnerable as the most sophisticated matron. Sounds like a #MeToo screed?

Not so fast. A Simple Favor is, like its title, a simple story of greed and abandon, best signified not by the roaming Sean or sweetly naughty Stephanie, but the manipulative and stylish Emily. You will weep at her exit.

Enjoy this comic thriller as you hunker down for the Oscar contenders in the next few months. It will at least prepare you for the formulas as it lampoons them.

John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com

John DeSando holds a BA from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in English from The University of Arizona. He served several universities as a professor, dean, and academic vice president. He has been producing and broadcasting as a film critic on It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics for more than two decades. DeSando received the Los Angeles Press Club's first-place honors for national entertainment journalism.