When you think of two moms getting together so their kids can have a playdate, you probably don't imagine it takes place is a severely chic home with French ye-ye pop playing in the background and martinis so stiff they could impregnate you. But that's exactly the kind of playdate Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) finds herself on with new pal Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) in director Paul Feig's effervescent neo-noir satire A Simple Favor.
Kendrick plays to her "type" --a chipper, perfectionist single mom with a vlog where she demonstrates how to sneak veggies into food kids will eat and how to make the perfect first aid kit. The regular parents at her son's kindergarten (played by a sarcastic Greek chorus comprised of Andrew Rannells, Kelly McCormack, and Aparna Nancherla--all very underused in this movie) look at her with disdain. But then, Stephanie meets Emily--a femme fatale who blithely says "fuck" in front of her five year old son, wears men's suits tailored to perfection, and has a nude portrait of herself hanging in her kitchen (a kitchen she never cooks in--that's her husband's job).
Blake Lively as Emily Nelson makes this movie. She's reminiscent of Amy Dunne in Gone Girl only she's richer, sexier, meaner, everything-er. She's a PR director for a fashion mogul, Dennis Nylon (Rupert Friend in a great cameo role), and she's married to a sexy failed author (Henry Golding, last seen in Crazy Rich Asians). She seems to have it all. Then one day, she disappears. She calls Stephanie to ask a simple favor--can she pick up her son after school that day? Stephanie agrees...but when Emily fails to show up for multiple days after that (Emily's husband is in London) and won't pick up her phone, the noir part of the film kicks in like that third martini.
My biggest criticism of A Simple Favor is that it's all over the place--but that's also part of its charm. It's funny, zany, dark, scary, tense, ridiculous, over-the-top, and light all at once, keeping the audience totally off-kilter the entire time. Clearly, Feig is going for a send-up of Gone Girl/Mommy Murder Mystery books and films. You know--all those books with "girl" or "woman" in the title and the main character is ALWAYS an alcoholic with an unreliable memory. And he mostly succeeds. That said, the first half of the movie which focuses on the odd couple pairing of Kendrick's eager-beaver June Cleaver and Lively's nihilistic bad mommy is much better than the second half, where revelation after revelation and plot twist after plot twist happen so quickly that there's no time to react to anything before the next surprise is revealed. Apparently, the book the film is based on suffers from the same issue--everything is thrown at the wall to see what will stick. I wish Feig had been willing to cut out a plot twist or three and allow the revelations to happen more leisurely, privileging atmosphere over plot. But alas.Despite the pacing issues, A Simple Favor is definitely fun. It also has a great soundtrack (a lot of Serge Gainsbourg), references to Diabolique, and passes the ol' Bechdel Test. So while it won't win any awards, I can recommend it without reservation. Just make sure to bring a flask filled with ice cold gin and a twist of lemon to the theatre.
Grade: B
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