A Simple Favour has all the tasty ingredients for a thrilling martini: sex, deceit and savage comedy. Feig, generally known for his high-calibre comedies and remake of a classic 80s ghoulish adventure (ending up being the most disliked film trailer of all time), endeavours into the world of thrillers. Little did he know, that he would be tampering with my favourite genre. So here we are, with a joyous domestic thriller that initially had me worried with its vapidly insubstantial approach. Would it be as menial and anaemic as Kendrick's effortlessly awkward demeanour? Well, with the "Cardellinisance" in full swing, there was no way this could've gone sour. Unless it turned out to be 'The Curse of My Sharona' (damn you...). An over-motherly single mother, who adores vlogging about making friendship bracelets, attempts to solve the disappearance of her new, mysterious yet rich and beautiful "best friend".
First things first. Nullify those expectations. The sole reason why this film received unanimous praise, was how it caught many viewers off guard with its intricately written black comedy. Oh, and secondly, do not take it with the same seriousness of say something like 'Silence of the Lambs'. Not even the same calibre on the thriller scale. Now that we've got that out of the way, A Simple Favour was bloody brilliant! A mystery that will keep you theorising and questioning every character onscreen until you have manually exhausted every possible avenue. A thriller with enough plot twists to maintain that precarious perching on the edge of your seat. And a black comedy with ingeniously used subtle humour, that the hysterics equalled the stimulation.
Remember a time when thrillers weren't necessarily soaked in blood, horror and psychological perplexity? Feig does. He recalled a time when mysteries were simply just fun. Immediately from the stylistic title sequence, I knew his directing style would fit the genre transition perfectly. And sure, aside from the odd sex scene that had pop music accompanied with it, as if it was some next level '50 Shades of Grey' pornography, his flamboyantly eccentric style was enough to keep the humour afloat. The slow motion flashbacks is just one example of his style put to excellent use.
However, what really charges the underlying feministic power, is Sharzer's screenplay. Hands down, one of the best screenplays I've ever had the joy of acknowledging. To balance humour with twisted thrills is so incredibly difficult to get right. The balance could skew at any moment. But she nailed it. The tone was consistently light, even when dabbling into incrimination and murder, that I never once doubted the possible mismatch of flavours. Whether it be Lively repeatedly uttering "brother *insert frickin' expletive*" or such lines like "I let you tear my labia as you exited my body", the writing was always on point. Impressed to say the least.
Then we come to the perfect casting of Kendrick and Lively, both exhuming their typical roles and effortlessly powering through. Kendrick as her usual awkward archetype ('The Accounant', 'Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates', 'Up In The Air'...I could go on...) and Lively realising her 'Age of Adaline' role once again. But the two bounce off each other so well, occasionally dabbling into psychological delusion, that is felt natural. Friend as a autocratic fashion designer. Cardellini. My God this woman! Just Velma trying to solve the mystery as well in her swaggy leather boots, is enough to make me fully recommend this feature. The gradual pace is nearly retained throughout, however dips towards the third act when certain reveals happen. Fortunately, it prevents itself from being convoluted and gets back on track for the last remaining minutes.
Simply put, A Simple Favour is one heck of a fun thriller, and reminds us all that we can have fun whilst being a pathological liar. Stylish, twisted and perfectly acted. It shall be rewatched, I'm sure of that. Can we just appreciate how gorgeous Lively is? Never mind her being lucky, Reynolds should be the lucky one!
