Mahlon At the Movies: A Simple Favor

By Mahlon Smoke

So, I saw ‘A Simple Favor’ and it was clearly not my type of movie. Now I like a good dark comedy and A Simple Favor seemed right up my alley. Let’s start with the film being directed by Paul Feig, who’s not one of my favorite directors but he’s okay. It just seems like his sense of humor doesn’t match up with mine. However, I won’t say that this movie wasn’t at least kinda funny, especially for the over-the-top plot points and plot twists that happened. Which is a point in this movie’s favor as I honestly didn’t know where this movie was going.

Another thing I found interesting was the absolute swagger and charisma that came off Blake Lively’s character, I was just as entranced by her as Anna Kendrick’s character was. It was easy to see how she was able to make people fear, respect, and love her. Anna Kendrick was of course pretty good playing a dorky, perfectionist, mommy vlogger who gets wrapped up in Lively’s world. Of course, the chemistry between these actresses was oozing with tension. I won’t spoil it but there is one scene where it really did seem like the two could be the most genuine friends and it was clear the actresses were having fun.

However, like a lot of Feig movies for me, the jokes fall flat, and I couldn’t help but think “Shut up” to some of the character’s rambling or that thing where they explain a joke instead of leaving it alone and let the audience laugh. Thankfully that was only a few times but nonetheless annoying. Another point I can give it is being a good blend of thriller and comedy, I won’t say it’s perfect, but it was pretty good for a director who isn’t familiar with thriller films. 

Overall if you like movies like Bridesmaids, Spy, and other Paul Feig movies than you’re probably going to love this film. As for me, it was okay and I’m going to give this film 3 stars out of 5.