A Simple Favor (Paul Feig)

[Ivan Drago]

https://img.cinemablend.com/quill/3/9/2/6/d/1/3926d1b6d53cba8d40996d9d1a82e5 078db657bf.jpg

IMDB (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7040874/) / Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Simple_Favor_(film))


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAqMlh0b2HU

[Ivan Drago]

Here are my thoughts. (http://www.foxforcefivenews.com/a-simple-favor-is-an-intriguing-mystery-with-a-comedic-twist-review/)

[TGM]

It gets off to a really rough start, with the first half hour being simply miserable to sit through. However, around the time that Blake Lively goes missing, it does gradually get better and better from there, to where by the end, I was actually quite digging this film. A decent effort.

[Peng]

Such a weird little film, in both good and bad ways. The jumbling of tones and genres has some conventional stretches fall flat (mostly the exposition ones, as in the first 10 minutes or so and the backstory sleuthing), but it also makes for some unpredictability and deliciously self-knowing batshit turns, which makes it such a fun, if uneven, ride. Big picture plot remains deeply unsatisfying, even if the film is engrossing on a moment-to-moment what-the-hell-are-they-going-to-pull-next basis, and it has a gloriously over-the-top ending that couldn't be more into my humor wheelhouse. Performances carry it a long way, especially Blake Lively, whose modulation of a wide range, from sincere vulnerability to cruel glibness, grounds the film's similarly various tones so well. 6.5/10

[Pop Trash]

This is fun.

Comparisons to Gone Girl are inevitable and it goes without saying that Paul Feig is no David Fincher (although Feig's work here is serviceable in an overlit, suburban way), but it reminds me more of certain trashy 90s femme noir comedies like Cruel Intentions and Wild Things.

The screenplay is engrossing, self-aware nonsense, even if there isn't much of a takeaway. The two leads are doing some of their finest work. Good music too.

[MadMan]

I thought this was hilarious and fun. More Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick pairings, please. "Brother fucker."

[Spinal]

It gets off to a really rough start, with the first half hour being simply miserable to sit through.

Huh. That was the part I liked best, with Stephanie and Emily getting to know one another. I kind of lost patience with the all the back and forth maneuvering late in the film. I think tolerance of this film largely depends on how one feels about Anna Kendrick and I confess, I find her utterly adorable, even if her performance is a bit broad. Sadly, the film suffers from being just so ... Feig. Man, the guy is a bore of a director.

[Irish]

I struggled to finish this.

The comedy is pure sitcom, the characterizations are really half assed, and the suspense isn't suspenseful.

The narrative POV is all fucked up, but I think the biggest problem is that Kendrick's character doesn't have an immediate stake in her so-called best friend's disappearance. So the interminable second act is her working out loads of exposition. None of the revelations are based on character so everything feels arbitrary.

Lively proved again she should be in better movies. I'm tired of Kendrick; I can't tell if she lacks range or she's just pigeon-holed herself into playing the same woman over and over and over again. Like she's found her schtick and she will keep with it, God help you, until you have to pry it from her cold, dead hands.

Also, JFC. The tone. What the hell were they thinking. The arson and incest subplots felt like they belonged to other movies. Were these supposed to be dark? Or funny? Key character defining revelations that told the audience nothing, in practice, about these characters.

And yeah. Feig is all about comfortable mediocrity, like his biggest ambition is to make films that play at the local mall.

[Grouchy]

I feel bad about giving this standard thriller a pass while pointing out the flaws on more ambitious, personal projects like Hereditary or Sorry to Bother You. The fact remains that despite Feig being a bland, TV-like director, the script and Blake Lively's performance turn this into a very fun experience. By the time the film piles up one revelation too many (TWIN SISTAAAAH!) you're either with it or completely alienated and I was with it.

[DavidSeven]

I’m surprised this got so many positive marks. I’m generally down for a fun yarn, but this material desperately needed a real craftsman in the director’s seat. This played like a slightly elevated Lifetime movie with Fieg’s bland direction and the tier-B actors. I guess the comedy is supposed to be the saving grace — and for that aspect, Kendrick and Lively are fine — but it’s not even close to funny or smart enough to be remarkable in that regard.