Weekend Watch: Another Simple Favor
A Lively affair
Image Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are back with more murder and madness. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite, Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite and Blue Sky: @jammerwhite.bsky.social
Much like last week’s The Accountant 2, fellow sequel Another Simple Favour (yes, I’m putting the “U” in there because I’m British, deal with it) is one that I didn’t necessarily expect to appear. The original did business at the box office, and there was certainly scope for its twisty story of suburban murder and mommy blogging to continue, but while there was talk of it, it has taken years to appear. And not just because director Paul Feig has said he doesn’t like making sequels.
And yet, here we are. The story picks up with Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie Smothers embarking on a book tour to promote the tome she wrote about her encounter with Emily Nelson (Blake Lively), who, it turns out, had more layers than an onion. Emily is in prison for murder and Stephanie is looking to move on.
Of course, that new status quo doesn’t last long, and soon Emily (AKA Hope, one of a twisted trio of sisters) is sprung from the slammer, and has a wealthy, mysterious fiancé looking to marry her on the picturesque isle of Capri, off the Sorrento Peninsula coast of Italy. Emily has a proposition for Stephanie –– be her maid of honour in an extraordinary offer of friendship. Oh, and if she doesn’t agree, Emily will sue her into the stone age.
Which goes some way to explain why we initially catch up with Stephanie in media res, where she’s in house arrest in her hotel room, accused of murder.
Feig, along with writers Jessica Sharzer (who adapted the original film from Darcey Bell’s novel) and Laeta Kalogridis turn the dial up on the craziness here, throwing in ever more weird twists and turns, upping the body count in the process. It doesn’t all work despite solid chemistry between the leads and some entertaining supporting turns (especially the likes of Andrew Rannells, Alex Newman, Elena Sofia Ricci and particularly Henry Golding, who has a blast playing a sozzled, snipy Sean, Emily’s ex-husband). The storyline builds to such an absurd degree and goes to such ridiculous lengths to be both funny and twisty, that it overeggs the pudding.
It just about coasts through on the sheer charisma of the leads, but if I were to ask a favour, it would be that Feig instead gets over his sequel trauma and makes a follow-up to Spy instead.
Another Simple Favour is on Prime Video now.