Josh Reviews Another Simple Favor
Paul Feig’s 2018 film A Simple Favor was a joyously pleasant surprise to me. I wasn’t sure I’d be interested in seeing Mr. Feig directing a twisty murder mystery — as opposed to his wonderful comedies such as Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy — and for the first twenty-ish minutes of the film, I wasn’t sure I could take watching Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie, who I found to be over-the-top annoying, for an entire film. But the film developed beautifully into a delightful two-hander between Ms. Kendrick’s Stephanie and Blake Lively’s mysterious, sexy Emily. I wound up quite enjoying it, and it’s a film I’ve liked even more upon rewatching, which I have done several times over the years.
Nevertheless, it didn’t seem to me like I knew many people who had seen that film, so I was surprised — but happy!! — to hear that a sequel was in the works!
I enjoyed Another Simple Favor. (You can stream it right now on Amazon Prime Video!) The pieces of the story’s puzzle don’t fit together quite as neatly as they did in the first film. And unsurprisingly, it stretches credulity somewhat to think that any sequence of events would possibly bring Stephanie and Emily back together again, let alone for them to be involved in another murder. But if you can go with that, I found this to be a pleasingly enjoyable caper, populated by a fun cast and set in a beautiful environment (the lush destination of Capri) filled with great scenery and lots more amazingly memorable outfits. The film zips along at a fine pace and doesn’t overstay its welcome. I was satisfied!
What’s it about? Five years after the first film, we catch back up with Stephanie, who has published a book about everything that went down between her and Emily. At a book signing event, who should appear but Emily, unexpectedly and somewhat mysteriously released from prison, who invites Stephanie to her surprise wedding to a wealthy Italian man, Dante Versano. Stephanie is convinced Emily plans to kill her, but agrees to go both because Emily publicly dares her, and also because Emily threatens legal action against her and her book should she refuse. (That her murder blog is losing steam and her agent Vicky says Stephanie needs the sales bump that the trip will provide her is also a factor.) And so Stephanie (and Vicky) wind up in Capri with Emily, and an array of people who are all upset about the wedding for one reason or another… many of whom are members of the rival Versano and Bartolo crime families. Soon, someone ends up dead and Stephanie is framed for it…
As was the case with the first film, both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are well-cast as Stephanie and Emily, and the film is at its best when it allows the two to be together on-screen, bouncing off of one another. (One of my quibbles with the film is that it keeps them separated for too long a stretch in the back half — I’d have preferred to have seen more of their being forced to work together. That would have been fun, and a clever contrast to how things played out in the first film, where they started out as allies but then wind up working against one another.) It’s a pleasure to see them back in these roles!
I was happy to see many of the first film’s supporting characters back as well! Henry Golding is back as Emily’s now ex-husband Sean, who is understandably quite pissed at Emily’s behavior (and he isn’t too wild about Stephanie either)! (We get to see quite a lot more of Mr. Golding’s nude back-side than I’d expected; this probably thrills a certain percentage of the audience. I did think the scene of him furiously masturbating (blessedly off-camera) was a bit too much ickiness for my tastes, though. I thought that moment was a weird choice for this film which, despite its R rating, was pretty tame otherwise.) Back to the cast: Andrew Rannells is back and once again very funny playing Darren, a snarky fellow neighborhood parent. I liked seeing him allied with Stephanie in the film’s early going; that was a fun dynamic! I wish he’d been the one to accompany Stephanie to Capri, rather than Vicky! (Though I did enjoy this new character, Vicky! More on her in a moment.) They even brought back Bashir Salahuddin as Detective Summerville! It was also fun to see that he too is now an ally of Stephanie’s.
One actor who didn’t return, unfortunately, was Jean Smart (Hacks), who played Emily’s mother in the first film. I was sad they recast the role here, but it’s a small part, so I can understand if Ms. Smart didn’t choose to do it. Elizabeth Perkins (About Last Night, Big, Avalon) is terrific in the role here.
New to this film is Michele Morrone as Emily’s hunky Italian fiancee Dante Versano. Mr. Morrone fits the assignment perfectly. Elena Sofia Ricci is wonderful as Dante’s very pissed-off mother Portia. Alex Newell is very funny as Vicky, Stephanie’s brash, honest book agent. I really liked this new character; I just wish Vicky wasn’t so sidelined in the second half of the film!
But the best addition to the cast is the great Allison Janney (The West Wing, I, Tonya, The People We Hate at the Wedding), who plays Emily’s aunt Linda, her mother’s older sister. Ms. Janney is a pleasure in this role, able to play all the different layers of this character. The only downside with her casting is that we immediately know there is more to this character than how she initially presents herself, because why else would they cast Allison Janney in the role? So that upends a bit of the mystery narrative.
Because we know what kind of film this is, it’s fun in the early going to wait and guess when the other shoe is going to drop. Then, when it of course does, it’s fun to watch Stephanie try to find her way out of the mess and figure out what’s going on. I do wish we’d seen Stephanie be a bit more successful as a detective (several things just fall into her lap in the third act), and as I’d mentioned above, I wish the movie got more mileage out of forcing Stephanie and Emily to work together despite their mutual enmity. That was fun when it happened and could have been a stronger element of the film’s second half. The film sort of glosses over the trauma inflicted upon Emily and Sean’s son Nicky (Ian Ho). I know they don’t want the story to get too serious, but I wish they’d found a way to either keep Nicky out of this or to at least acknowledge what he’s been put through. Speaking of Nicky, I thought the ending was a bit too quick and easy in the way they have Emily make a choice relating to Nicky that I just don’t buy she’d ever actually do. I wish they’d found a solution that felt more in-character.
Speaking of the ending, things do resolve, but that last scene sets up a third movie that I’d love to see! I have no idea if this sequel made enough of a splash to warrant another installment. (I sort of doubt it, based on how I don’t know anyone who’s seen this, and few people who have even heard of it.) And it’s not like this sequel was so brilliant that I’m demanding another one. I think the first film was better. Still, I enjoy these characters and their twisty, murder-infused world, and I’d be delighted to see this become a trilogy if the movie-gods allowed!
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