Marissa Radtke ’19, Layout Director
A Simple Favor came out in theaters Sept. 14 and it by far was worth the hype it was getting. Directed by Paul Feig, it focuses on Emily, portrayed by Blake Lively, who mysteriously vanishes out of thin air. The whole movie follows her friend, Stephanie, portrayed by Anna Kendrick, and her search to find Emily, while uncovering the dark secrets she holds.
The trailer for the movie was very puzzling and made you want more. With mostly good reviews, this movie is something you do not want to miss. It was interesting to see Kendrick and Lively play different roles than they usually do. Lively doesn’t usually play a villain, funny character. Sonia Rao from the New York Times also agreed on how Lively got to play a different role, “As the cheeky Emily, the star of such recent thrillers, finally gets the chance to be funny,” she said. Meanwhile, Kendrick has never taken on a mother role. Lively portrays Emily, a mother who works in the city for a top notch company, having a glamorous appearance. However, she actually is a mess deep down, she swears a lot, and has a very unkempt personality. Kendrick plays Stephanie, a stay at home mother, who is very involved in her son’s life. She also runs a vlog channel focusing on do it yourself projects for mothers and cooking.
Going into the movie, you don’t know what to expect as the trailer left you curious. The movie whipped you through many scenes causing a knot in your stomach. It also mixed in some humor which struck a perfect balance. Lively and Kendrick complement each other very well in many of these scenes, making them both amusing and dark at the same time. Ben Travis from Empire magazine commented on their acting, “Watching Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick trade barbs is entertaining,” he said. They often go back and forth in many scenes trading witty, facetious, comments. Their characters are also opposites, making it entertaining seeing how they are going to interact.
There were so many bombshell revelations and unforeseen events. When you think something is going in one direction, it goes the complete opposite. When the truth unfolded, it was satisfying to learn what was going on and be able to solve the seemingly 1,000 piece puzzle.
Overall, this movie appeals to anyone who likes a mystery that’s not too serious. A Simple Favor mixes the perfect combination of thrill and funny. It has gotten an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a pretty good rating from a website that can be brutal on movies. It was written extremely well and the plot is very unpredictable and different than the usual story lines that have been in movies lately. In the movies, there has been a lot of hero movies coming out lately and romance comedies that fit inside the box with the same old subjects. This movie pushes some boundaries with some of the jokes and is a bit risqué. The writer took a lot of risks with some of the scenes, making it dark and horrific. However when it was getting dark, you would get thrown a funny part, making you feel sick for laughing. It is hard to explain much of the movie without giving it away. It is something you have to go and figure out. You will not regret seeing this movie.
Photo courtesy of cinenews.be
Lyon Life 