Film Review - A Simple Favor (15)

Oh you don't want to be friends with me, trust me.

Now here's a film that turned out to be not what I'd expected. A Simple Favor (that's Favour here in the UK) was marketed as a stylish suburban mystery-thriller. Starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively it purported to reveal the 'dark side' of director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy). And while there are some very dark elements to the movie, it's notable also for its humour - sly, satirical, goofball at points - something barely hinted at in the trailers. Whenever you think you have the genre-combination pinned down, it ups and changes into something else entirely.

Kendrick is at the centre of it all as Stephanie, a food-vlogging single suburban mom - perky and enthusiastic to the point of desperation. The friendship she strikes up at the school-gate with fellow mom Emily (Lively) is a bizarre pairing. Emily is a glamorous, gin-swilling PR executive, with a reckless approach to both life and parenting, and a scathing sense of humour (that's 'humor' there in North America). But Stephanie's instant new BFF is a power-dressed and svelte nest of secrets. And when she agrees to look after Emily's son for an afternoon - the favor of the title - events take a swift and sinister turn.

It's the first twist of many, but what makes this film remarkable is the way its tone shifts along with its plot from one moment to the next. What starts off as an acidic social comedy switches into a detective drama with overtones of Hitchcockian paranoia, exploding at points into out-and-out farce. It's less a genre fusion than an all-out gloves-off scrap to see which genre will come out on top. And with the Bridesmaids director on board the outrageous moments of visual comedy threaten to overpower all else as the story develops. It's a messy business, with the darker aspects of certain characters' back stories not explores as effectively as they otherwise might have been, and with sudden mood-lurches undercutting the tension.

What rescues the movie from disaster and elevates it into something genuinely entertaining is the performances of the two leads. Kendrick takes a potentially infuriating character and makes you root for her through a combination of Nancy Drew-style investigative spirit and fumbling self-doubt. (Her Emily girl-crush knocks her off-kilter to truly hilarious effect.) Lively meanwhile presents Emily as a force of nature, eating up the screen every time she's on it with her brash, foul-mouthed, scary-sexy persona. The electricity between them fairly crackles, more so than the scenes with Emily's husband Nick (Henry Golding of recent Crazy Rich Asians fame). There's an additional scattering of enjoyable comic cameos, but this is all about the girlmance (it's a word, I checked) and its knock-on effect.

A Simple Favor benefits from its lightening pace and escalating rate of hairpin plot curves. (The final act risks a kind of mental whiplash.) It's also an undeniably unique viewing experience with all its tonal gear-shifts, and might have been a classic if director Feig had managed them more smoothly. Thankfully he had those two feisty and funny actresses along for the ride. It makes for an unexpectedly riotous trip.

Gut Reaction: The premise suggests Gillian Flynn-type suspense, but my overriding response was raucous laughter.

Where Are the Women?: In addition to the inspired Blake and Anna pairing, screen-writer Jessica Sharzer adds welcome pith and edginess to the dialogue.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. Set aside expectations and this was a very satisfying couple of hours. All over the bleedin' place, but with admirably full-throttle performances to keep it on track.