Prime Asks for ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently streaming on Prime Video from director Paul Feig is the return of two women who have a history but not afraid to ask for ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR.

It has been five years since Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) brought down the sly Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). Since then, she has written a book about what happened and is at a book signing when in walks a haute-couture laden Emily. Stephanie is surprised to see her and is informed that her case is on appeal. What does she want you might ask? Well, Emily wants Stephanie to be her maid of honor with upcoming nuptials in Capri. Her intended is Dante Versano (Michele Morrone) a very tall, handsome and mysterious man that Stephanie is suspicious of.

Hopping a private plan to Capri, Stephanie brings Vicky (Alex Newell) along just to make sure that Emily doesn’t decide to take revenge on her. On the trip, Emily tries to convince Stephanie that she has no ulterior motive for wanting her to be there, just that she is someone Emily can trust. Arriving, the first uncomfortable guest they meet is Sean (Henry Golding), as the two women realize that a drunk Sean is a troublesome Sean. The first event is a lunch as Stephanie meets Dantes disapproving mother Portia (Elena Sofia Ricci) who has a surprise of her own for Emily. Her Aunt Linda (Allison Janney) and mother Margaret (Elizabeth Perkins) have arrived and so is the trouble that they can cause.

That’s when things begin to go horribly wrong but, as shocking as that is, Emily and Dante are not about to stop the wedding for anything. That also doesn’t stop more horrible thing from happening and now Stephanie is once again in the middle of it all. Being held, Stephanie knows that its time to kick into true-crime solving mode in order to get herself out of the mess she is in. She believes that her mother might hold the keys to some of the answers and its time to do her best sleuthing before she ends up behind bars.

Being friends with Emily has its moments!

Kendrick as Stephanie is dealing with the low end of success from the book she wrote about the mess with Emily. Everyone has an opinion about what happened and Kendrick’s Stephanie does her very best to live with all the mess. When Emily reenters her life, Stephanie makes it clear that she ‘isn’t as nice” as she used to be. Her wit is sharper and her mistrust is on high alert. That’s what makes watching her this time around so much fun – the fact that she’s onto Emily. Wit for wit, watching Kendrick with the comebacks is like watching a ping-pong tournament, take your eye off the ball once and you might miss the good stuff.  

Lively as Emily makes a huge comeback and, as with the five years earlier, does everything big – big entrance, big hates, big presence – and makes it look good. I just love how Lively handles the back and forth with Kendrick and makes it clear to all of us watching that we will never know for sure if she’s serious or not. She is full of mystery and sly fun and I am absolutely here for every bit of it. Casting Lively along side Kendrick was a stroke of genius in 2018 and bringing them back together to do it again with a script that works is brilliant once again.

Morrone as Dante is the mysterious man Emily is marrying and it is clear that they are close. Protecting his lady against ex-husbands and irate mothers, Morrone does a grand job until he doesn’t. Well done. Ricci as Portia is the mother-in-law from hell who is not happy about her son’s marriage and isn’t about to go down without a fight – and she has the weapons to make that happen. I just loved her to pieces because she is a spectacularly dressed crazy mom.

Janney as Aunt Linda is another crazy lady who happens to be in charge of her sister who also falls into the category of a crazy lady. She is sharp and I just love the fact that Janney’s career has brought so many different characters and she has performed each one superbly, if you can’t tell, Janney is one of my favorite actresses. Perkins as Margaret has spent most of her life swimming in a bottle and it is clear that Emily is not happy about either family member being at her wedding. Perkins is funny and full of information.

Golding as Sean returns as a man who has found the bottle as well and being in the same room with both Stephanie and Emily just brings out his own warped humor. He did enjoy the luncheon show so that’s something. I just love that he returned to his role of Sean. Newell as Vicky is just happy to be vacationing in Capri and being ringside to all the insanity of it. She sees another book and her career improving with the madness that happens when Stephanie and Emily get together.

Other cast include Joshua Satine as Miles, Aparna Nancherla as Sona, Kelly McCormack as Stacy, Diletta Jayne as Lulu, Ian Ho as Nicky, Lorenzo de Moor as Matteo Bartolo, Bashir Salahuddin as Detective Summerville and Andrew Rannells as Darren.

Prime Video offers television shows and original content included in its Amazon Prime subscription. Original programs such as CARNIVAL ROW, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL are hit shows. Coming soon is the next series with GOLIATH starring Billy Bob Thornton and it promises to another successful and intense series. For more information, please visit www.amazonprime.com.

ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR is a fun, twisted, mysterious, and sharp-witted film that doesn’t have a moment of boredom. I will admit to being hesitant to watch the film as sequels don’t have a wonderful track record but I can honestly say this film is completely outrageous in the best way possible. The story is so well written, the snappy one-liners are going to be used by me no question, the setting is lavishly big like Emily’s personality and full of who-dun-it that Stephanie loves.

This is exactly the type of film you want to sit back with a good glass of wine, a charcuterie board and some pals who are looking for a night of laughs. Expect the unexpected, prepare for jaw drops and figure out the mystery because there is more to the story than meets the eye.

In the end – every friendship has its twists!

 

A SIMPLE FAVOR Challenges Friendship

Jeri Jacquin

This Friday in theatres from director Paul Feig and Lionsgate comes a film based on the Darcey Bell novel asking for A SIMPLE FAVOR.

Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a single Mom who passes her days raising a young son Miles (Joshua Satine), being the crafty-type and a vlogger. While at a school celebration, Stephanie meets Miles friend Nicky (Ian Ho) and they both want a play date. Of course it’s all up to Nicky’s Mom Emily (Blake Lively).

Stephanie introduces herself to Emily and is a bit nervous realizing she is an outgoing and verbally free woman. Agreeing to a play date, Emily introduces Stephanie to a martini and the two become acquainted. Spending time together occasionally becomes something Stephanie looks forward to.

She also meets Emily’s husband Sean (Henry Golding) who is a writer and teaches at the local college. Seeing that the couple is really into each other, Stephanie comes to like them both very much. One day Emily calls and asks Stephanie to please watch son Nicky as Sean had to go take care of his injured mother and she is stuck with a business crisis.

That’s when a mystery begins as days go by and Emily is no where to be found. Sean returns home and joins in the search to find his wife. Stephanie uses her vlog to keep visitors up to date on the search. After the worst news possible happens, Stephanie and Sean find themselves trying to deal with it all.

As the police have their questions, Stephanie also has hers. It starts out with simple things that she notices but each day it becomes clear that something is not only wrong but that nothing is what it has seemed about Emily.

Vlogger and DIY Mom goes into super sleuth mode to discover who Emily truly is, what does Sean know and will she have enough time to make her famous meatless meatballs for the next school function?

Stay tuned!

Kendrick as Stephanie pours it on as a woman with her own secrets who wraps them up in neat little cookie bundles. Volunteering and organizing everything around her, it doesn’t take long before Emily’s influence starts to her loosen up. Taking kindness for weakness, Kendrick gives Stephanie the kind of empowerment that can move mountains. I loved Kendrick in this role with her quirkiness mixed with a nervousness that sets of the hidden firecracker that her character is.

Lively as Emily is gorgeous, smart, wears it well and can spin a yarn with a straight face like no other. I loved every minute she was on screen just making every move look so damn easy. Even when her character was lying I didn’t know if she was lying even when I was 98% sure she was lying. The ride her character provides is fast, fun, crazy and filled with twists and surprises. Emily has a magazine rack full of issues and she’s not about to lay them out for the world to use against her. The match between Emily and Stephanie is definitely perfection.

Golding as husband Sean is a writer/teacher who fell hard for the lovely Emily. From the beginning of their relationship he knew there was something different but learned not to ask questions. Golding gives the role a bit of charm and innocent sexy all the way to the very end. He can also be seen in the hit film CRAZY RICH ASIANS and trust when I say he is an actor to keep watching for.

Other cast include Dustin Milligan as Chris, Danielle Bourgon as Grace, Gia Sandhu as Valerie, Glenda Braganza as Mrs. Glenda, Kelly McCormack as Stacy, Andrew Rannells as Darren, Andrew Moodie as Sgt. Molloy, Rupert Friend as Dennis Nylon and Jean Smart as Mrs. McLanden.

A SIMPLE FAVOR is a mixture of fun, twists, jaw drops, hints, laughs, mystery, deception, friendship, love, illusion and so much more. The film moves along at a good pace and then the script is flipped half way through and the brake stick on the roller coaster is broken off!

Lively and Kendrick are magic together on the screen and I loved every minute of it. This is a film that is loaded from beginning to end and brought people at the screening together to talk about it after. Conversations spoke about the performances being some of the best seen in a while and how the story kept them off guard through out most of the film.

For me there were a few things that I figured out but it didn’t stop me at all from enjoying the film. In fact, even though I may have figured this and that out, I didn’t expect the constant twists and turns! That is all due to Kendrick, Lively and Golding who kept me engrossed in their characters.

In the end – it all started with a simple favor!