Kendrick, Lively put their stamp on camp
A Simple Favor
(out of 4) Starring Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding. Directed by Paul Feig. Opening Thursday night at major theatres. 117 minutes. 14A Comedy director Paul Feig tries a thriller on for size with the juicy A Simple Favor, a suburban Connecticut murder mystery that’s Gone Girl meets The
Stepford Wives. Based on the novel by Darcey Bell, written by Jessica Sharzer, the consciously campy A Simple Favor is as bright and bracing as an ice cold gin martini with a lemon twist, and just as satisfying.
Anna Kendrick stars as Stephanie, a mommy vlogger raising her son, Miles (Joshua Satine), on her own after her husband’s tragic death in a car accident. Shunned by the other parents, she takes up with the glamourous, elusive and mysterious Emily Nelson (Blake Lively), mostly because their kids want a play date. Thirsty for attention, she agrees to slurp down afternoon martinis.
As the sexy, stylish Emily, Lively is at her best. The role offers her a chance to try on a deliciously naughty performance while playing on her flair for fashion. Decked from head to toe in three-piece suits, Emily cuts a seductive and serpentine figure. She snares Stephanie into her web the same way she snagged her husband: with a potent mixture of sensuality and secrets.
Kendrick’s shtick — her selfconsciously dorky rapid-fire delivery — has started to wear thin, but in A Simple Favor it suits her character perfectly, as the ever-chipper can-do Stephanie. When Emily goes missing, leaving her son Nicky in the care of Stephanie, her new best friend of a few weeks, she pours all her energy into caring for Emily’s family and searching for her missing friend. When it comes to solving mysteries, leave it to a mom. Stephanie is the ultimate uber-organized Nosy Nellie perfect for the job.
Astellar supporting cast buoys the duo of Kendrick and Lively, including Bashir Salahuddin as a suspicious detective, Rupert Friend as Emily’s boss, the severe fashion designer Dennis Nylon, and Linda Cardellini as a tortured artist who knew Emily back in the day (and painted a truly outré portrait that hangs in their home). But the film wouldn’t work without the onetwo punch of Kendrick and Lively, stepping into roles that play on their personas while allowing them to colour outside the lines. There isn’t too much social commentary, despite the touchstones like The Stepford Wives and Gone Girl, which are thematically much richer. Although there’s a flicker of parody to the mommy vlogger videos Stephanie uploads while searching for Emily, they’re an integral part of the plot, too.
A Simple Favor twists and turns like a flag whipping in the wind, and by the end, it teeters on the brink of total incomprehensibility while plunging into ridiculousness. But that’s what you want for this brand of soapy, stylized and sexy femaledriven thriller. It’s about as deep as a champagne coupe, but the performers, slick execution and pop-art style make it a delightfully fun and kitschy ride.