This week’s big streaming feature film release could be compared to the return of an unexpected Fall romance from several years ago, seven to be precise. This movie captured my heart, along with my critical sensibilities. when it seemed to appear seemingly out of nowhere, with little fanfare or hype. Yes, I was, and remain, a fan of the filmmaker and one of the lead actors, but this was a real step out of their “comfort zone” with an engaging murder mystery full of snark and satire, along with fabulous fashions. That movie, A SIMPLE FAVOR, nabbed a spot on my top ten list of 2018. And now, almost everyone is back for a sequel, but is that magical spark still there? Will I have that same frothy fun and romance with ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR? Or was the original “just one of those things, just one of those crazy flings…”?
In the opening sequence, much has changed in the sleepy California suburb. “Home lifestyle vlogger” Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) has expanded her “brand” and is the author of a true-life murder mystery novel based on her past experience there (y’know, the first flick). She’s doing a “reading” from that work at the town’s bookstore with her “mom pals” there along with a small audience, under the guidance of her aggressive manager Vicki (Alex Newell). All is pretty normal until someone arrives late, Sasshaying up the aisle (as if it were a fashion show runway) is none other than Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). Seems a pack of high-powered lawyers have gotten her released from prison, just in time for nuptials to her new wealthy fiancé (who paid for the legal team). Emily wants Stephanie to be her maid of honor at the big wedding ceremony…in Capri. Steph balks, but Emily insists, saying that her law squad could sue her for libel and slander unless she agrees to go. Luckily, Steph’s son Miles is off to Summer camp, so …bon voyage. Actually she boards (with Vicki in tow) the private jet of the wealthy, perhaps “connected” family of Emily’s beau, the hunky, handsome Dante Versano (Michele Morrone). Upon landing, they’re whisked away to a fancy hotel where Steph meets him and reunites with Emily’s ex (and her former “fling”), the boozing Sean Townsend (Henry Golding). He’s brought along his son with Emily, Nicky (Ian Ho). At the big pre-wedding reception, we meet the Versano matriarch Portia (Elena Sofia-Ricci), who detests Em and her pals. But she’s got a surprise for her future daughter-in-law. She’s flown in her dingy mother, Margaret (Elizabeth Perkins), and her pushy sister, who Em hasn’t seen in thirty years, Aunt Linda (Allison Janney). With the “players in place, the “game” soon begins with multiple murders that point to Stephanie. Has Emily set up the whole event as a way to exact revenge on her former friend who helped send her to the slammer years ago?
Well, the two leads haven’t missed a “beat”, effortessly going into that verbal ‘dance” they aced so well way back in 2018. Yes, Kendrick is still a delightful snarky “hot mess”, as she doles out the “burns” while trying to grasp all the chaos swirling about her. She gets us back on her “side” even as she has to go into the cliche drunk/stoned bits in the story’s troubled (more about that later) second half. Lively as Emily is still the epitome of swaggering super-confidence (I mean, look at those wild outfits that she “works” expertly), though there’s more than a hint of sadness in the veiled threats she utters casually to Kendrick, perhaps to always keep her off-balance. Her character is a supermodel who’s always ready to strike. As for the supporting players, the real standout may be Ricci, who is constantly “shooting daggers” at the “Americans” as she spews venom through her perfectly clenched teeth. Morrone is a prime “Euro-stud” with a smouldering but dangerous stare and primo product-filled hair and white linen tailored suits. He’s the opposite of Em’s “ex,” who Golding plays as an ever “open wound” in need of constant liquid medication in a thankless expendable role. Ditto for the rest of Emily’s “side” with the talented Perkins reduced to playing a dotty, daft unfiltered harridan (think of a really nasty Sofia of “The Golden Girls”) and the usually superb Oscar-winner Janney who has to bark out threats while doing a variation of the old villainous “mustache-twirling”. They’re both such gifted actresses, saddled with subpar material. And then there’s Newell, whose Vicky may be the standard “fish out of water American doofus”, but his stint as the comic relief reactor is marred by constant “mugging” and a delivery right out of a 70s sitcom, maybe due to some misguided direction. But happily, we do get some brief early scenes with Steph’s “Greek chorus” back home led by the terrific Andrew Rannells. Plus, we get a new comic character from an energetic screen newcomer, Taylor Ortega.
So, I’m reminded of that old phrase from WWII, “Was this trip really necessary?” when thinking about this flick. Well, I’m not so sure if it was needed. All the right elements are back, including comedy movie master Paul Feig and the original screenwriters. Mind you, the first act is lots of fun with the reunion of Steph and Em. fraught with fun and danger. Unfortunately, the film soon goes “off the rails” when the murder mystery kicks in. We’re given a “heads up” with a bizarre flashback to a recent mystery with Steph, that may be there to plant some doubt on her sleuthing skills, but just serves little function till a quick final act nod. Part of the problem may be the often conflicting acting styles, with Feig giving a bit too much “leeway” with some of the performance “choices”. And this is the director who guided Melissa McCarthy in her best movies, really. Maybe this is a way to “sell” the script. to make the muddled plot revelations, with each new “twist” trying to “upend” the previous one to the point of exhaustion (for us, the audience). Maybe this is meant to be a dark, satirical “soap opera”, with triple-crosses, and “ret-cons” of storylines in the first flick which induce migraines rather than laughs. Plus, we get some “travel cliches” including “mafia mirth” and even a chase on a Vespa, of course. Sure, the location work is spectacular, a great “tourism pitch” in those long shots, and those wild fashion styles are still fun (Em wears a hat that’s bigger than a stingray), but it’s not enough to smooth out the story glitches where we’re meant to see Emily as a naughty “scamp’ rather than the mudering mastermind “diva deviL’. So, to answer my earlier question, no, this isn’t the same delicious romp from 2018, so perhaps it’s best to leave that movie romance there, even though Kendrick and Lively are a different kind of dynamic duo of crime comedy, they just can’t deliver the charm and laughs with ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR.
2 Out of 4
ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR streams exclusively on Amazon Prime Video beginning on May 1, 2025
