By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Welcome back, Paul Feig! You had me at “Starring Anna Kendrick.” In the last year or so, I have just been entranced with her. TABLE 19 (2017) and MR. RIGHT (2015) in particular made me fall in love. When I saw the trailer for this flick, I knew was in for a treat.
The movie begins with sweet, quirky Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) who is chided by the other parents at her small son, Miles (Joshua Satine) grade school. She keeps a positive outlook though she is definitely an awkward gal. She’s a single mom who lost both her husband and brother in a horrific car accident. She still somehow sees the world with rose-colored glasses and spends her time making social media cooking videos.
After she picks up Miles, she meets Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). Emily is a blonde-bombshell with killer bite and a genuine feminist strength in her every move. Her son Nick (Ian Ho) is friends with Miles and asks for a play date.
Stephanie also goes over and the ladies share a drink. A bond forms between Steph and Em. Em is everything Stephanie isn’t. She’s completely secure in herself. She can read anyone who is in a room and calls everyone on their bullshit. She says what is on her mind and doesn’t mince words. There’s a sexual tension in the air when both women share the screen. It’s palpable.
Even when Emily’s husband Sean (Henry Golding) comes home and the two engage in heavy PDA in front of Stephanie, the sexuality of the scene is from shy Steph witnessing it. It’s an energy the women have together that is begging to be explored.
Sean wrote one successful novel that Stephanie had read and loved, but it’s been years since its release. He still suffers writer’s block. Em is disappointed he hasn’t done anything aside from his first novel and complains often.
Stephanie desperate to latch on to Em, offers herself as a free babysitter. Emily takes her up on it, immediately. The two begin hanging out and other than Em freaking out when Steph takes her picture, all goes well.
The two exchange outrageous stories and Em talks about a fun threesome she had with her hubby just months before. Stephanie then talks about her father’s funeral and a sexual encounter with her half-brother that takes place. The confession makes Em like Steph even more, but she pokes fun calling her brother fucker.
The next time Stephanie watches Nick, but Em never shows up to get him. She disappears and after two days of no-shows, Stephanie calls Sean, who was out of town in London. He flies back home and though he says Emily has disappeared before, they still call the police to investigate.
When the cops show, they question Sean. This angers Stephanie who tells them that he was a devoted and great husband. She also rallies to his defense in her cooking videos where she tells viewers that he’s innocent.
Later, she goes to Emily’s place of business. The owner Dennis (Rupert Friend) is a bit surprised but overall unconcerned. He seems more upset about Stephanie’s wardrobe than Emily being gone. Shortly thereafter, Em’s body is found. She was pumped full of heroin and thrown in a lake at a nearby camp.
Steph steps up and helps with the entire funeral and also begins taking care of Sean and Nick. The parents from school who once made fun of her are now all sympathetic and offering assistance. Soon, Steph begins acting more and more like Emily. She dresses in her clothes, becomes more assertive, and even beds Sean in a sexy, vampy little scene.
The police start getting suspicious when they find out Sean bought a multimillion dollar insurance policy on Em. Things get stranger, when Steph sees Sean gallivanting with a mysterious woman. Worse is when Miles and Nick claim to have seen Emily at the school. Her perfume hangs in the air at the house as the mystery surrounding her disappearance thickens.
Sean begins painting an ugly picture of Emily and builds Steph’s ego in the process. He asks her to move in and she’s hesitant. She questions him about everything, but his responses seem logical. While redecorating the room to give it her own flare, something odd occurs. She takes Em’s extensive clothing collection from her closet and puts it on the floor and furniture. She returns moments later with her own stuff only to find all the belongings placed perfectly back. She begins thinking she’s being haunted, but then Nick comes home with a picture he says is from his mother. The picture is one of her and it says Brother Fucker.
Right after, she gets a call from Emily that makes her think both Sean and Em are playing her. She confronts Sean who thinks she’s lost her mind. This is the catalyst of Stephanie going complete badass fem. She tracks down Diana Hyland (Linda Cardellini) an artist who painted a portrait of Em. Diana and Em were in a relationship, but it ended poorly with Emily disappearing. In belongings left behind, Stephanie finds some more clues.
Not sure about Sean, she doesn’t tell him what she’s doing. Her cute, sweet minx temperament is spectacular. She follows one lead after another and finally starts uncovering several shocking truths. The revelations give Steph enough confidence and her transformation is quite sensational.
A SIMPLE FAVOR is one of the best films of the year. It’s compelling, hilarious, sexy, twisted and genuinely surprising. It has parody elements where there are twists and turns that really don’t need to be there, but just are. That said, it’s intentional and well-done.
The cast is fantastic. Henry Golding does fantastic as the a wannabe gentleman who is continuously led by his dick instead of his brain.
Blake Lively owned the camera during her scenes. She really did make Emily larger-than-life and a force to be reckoned with. Everything from her manner of speaking to the way in which she spoke and walked was done in an intentionally eye-catching way. She played it with the brazenness of Faye Dunaway and the seduction wiles of Rita Hayworth.
Likewise, Anna Kendrick was phenomenal in the lead. Stephanie goes thru the biggest changes. Her transformation is believable and extremely entertaining.
I rented this on REDBOX, but I’ll surely be buying it. It’s an odd celebration of fem friendship, but a celebration nonetheless.
Personally, I totally wanted Steph and Em to end up together and to hell with Sean, but I’m super crazy.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8/10
