Released: 1st May
Seen: 13th May
In 2018 a little film called A Simple Favour came out to rapturous applause. A fun, extravagant murder mystery thriller with a pair of female leads at the top of their game that delivered on every single front, it was a smash hit all around. I personally loved it so much that I named it the best film of the year that it came out and it came out in the same year that Avengers: Infinity War came out so the bar was high. That was 7 years ago, with the additional time and looking back on their cultural impact I have to admit that maybe I put it too high on the list (lists of that nature are never perfect, merely reflecting the critics belief in the moment they create the list) but I still stand by it being an absolutely brilliant movie that probably should’ve had a sequel years ago. We finally have got one, but was the wait too long for another favour?
Another Simple Favour picks up several years after the first film where Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) has written a true crime novel about the events of the first movie but that book isn’t selling well so, on advice from her book agent Vicky (Alex Newell) she goes on a little book reading tour for promotion. On one of these stops, she’s interrupted when Emily (Blake Lively) saunters in after being released from prison. She’s there for one thing and one thing only… to invite Stephanie to be the maid of honour at her wedding to Dante (Michele Morrone) which will take place in Italy. Skeptical (understandably so since Emily did try and murder Stephanie in the last film), Stephanie accompanies Emily to Italy where they run into old family, new family and a string of murders that just keep happening and that Stephanie might not be able to solve so easily this time, especially when she’s the prime suspect.
Everything that worked so well about A Simple Favour is repeated here, which on the surface should mean this film is as good as the one that came before it. After all we have the same quick witted tone, same blend of comedy and thriller, same great performances by a cast who were willing to go for broke every chance they could get and even the same cinematographer delivering similar great shots so it’s reasonable to believe we’re going to get the same kind of film but it’s the little changes that can’t help but hurt this film, things that might be unavoidable based purely on the fact that it’s a sequel.
What really made the first film work so well was its suburban setting, this extravagant murder mystery was happening in such a mundane location that everything about it felt. There was a beautiful contrast that really worked, all this mystery and intrigue was happening while people organised play dates… this movie takes place in Italy with a mafia story happening in the background so that contrast just doesn’t exist anymore. The story can’t be any more over the top than the setting because the setting is one of the most glamorous over the top locations ever put on film. It doesn’t mean that the plot isn’t fun or extravagant because it is, it just doesn’t stand out as much as it did back in suburbia. It certainly is filmed beautifully, one would hope so with a location like Italy as the backdrop, but its beauty takes away from the punch of the film.
What still has quite a punch is that Blake Lively performance and I am aware that she’s somewhat controversial right now due to the whole “Justin Baldoni” situation and I choose to push that aside because god damn, Blake storms into every scene she has, serves cunt, throws a venomous barb and walks out like no one else. It’s a masterclass in how to play a bitch and I mean that as a compliment, she’s endlessly watchable and you can see how she can manipulate absolutely anyone. Of all the performances in the film, she’s the one who somehow matches her brilliance from the first film. The newbies to the film do spectacularly (Alex Newell and Allison Janney in particular are scene stealers) but everyone else kind of feels like an echo of how great they were last time.
Going through Another Simple Favour there’s a ton of moments that really just felt like they were going through a list of things from the first film and matching them in name but not in spirit. The first films iconic martini making scene is referenced here but nothing quite matches the effortlessly cool way that Emily made that original drink, the final confrontation of the first film had a hilariously brilliant climax but this film just kind of drops that ball, even the dropping of “brother-fucker” jokes (it makes sense if you saw the first film) doesn’t pack the same venomous punch that it did before. They’re doing all the bits that were so great the first time, but there’s something that’s kind of missing about it and it turns out that’s the feeling of surprise.
Walking into the first A Simple Favour there was really no way to know what was going to happen. Emily’s blistering entrance to the film was enough to make anyone sit up straight and demand to know what the hell just strode into the movie because it comes out of left field but now… we know what’s coming. We can call it, you can probably point to the murder victims right off the bat, none of Emily’s jokes are particularly shocking because we know her schtick. Another Simple Favour has lost the element of surprise that made the first one stand out and thus, when it retreads the same material, it doesn’t hit as hard. It still hits, it’s still enjoyable enough but there’s a punch that’s missing because we’ve already been hit like this before so we know what’s coming.
Another Simple Favour is undeniably good, it’s got a lot of humour and some great performances and a lot of genuinely beautiful set pieces courtesy of a combination of a talented cinematographer and a beautiful location. It’s still a good movie that’s genuinely a lot of fun to have but it’s also having to follow on from an absolutely brilliant film that it’s hard not to think about while watching this. If you liked the original, you’re going to like this one too, just probably going to like it a little less because it’s not able to reach those heights.
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