A Simple Favor

What a fun movie! Suspense with just a tad of humor. Will keep you guessing for a while! Lots of twists in the storyline before the end. Highly recommended.

Didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I was pleasantly surprised by the plot and also the acting.

Fast paced thriller of sorts (more on that in a minute), this was a film I thought I wouldn’t like and was prepared to stop watching but soon fell into and stayed up late to the end, partially because of the mystery, partially because the two main characters (and the actresses who played them) grabbed my attention.The story seems simple at first, we meet the main character Stephanie Smothers (played by Anna Kendrick), a single mom (widowed), raising her son just outside New York City. She is a successful vlogger with her cooking and arts and craft channel and is engaged and active with her son’s school and his life. Her pretty happy, bright, and pure life (she is kind, forgiving, outgoing, polite, always ready to help people) crosses path with a completely different person, Emily Nelson (played by Blake Lively, a mysterious, profane, hard-drinking, enigmatic, jet setting woman) when Stephanie’s son wants to have a play date with Emily’s son. Very quickly a lonely Stephanie (and a needful Emily, who needs a nanny) hit it off and become friends (so Stephanie thinks) and regularly takes care of Emily’s son. They share meals together, drink together, Stephanie meets Emily’s husband Sean Townsend (played by Henry Golding), that though Emily and Stephanie are often very different and there are odd things about Emily (like never, ever wanting her photograph taken) she seems on balance a positive addition to Stephanie’s life.Then she goes missing for almost a week, with no one, not Emily’s husband, the police, Emily’s place of work, have any idea where she is. Enlisting her fans on vlog, Stephanie falls down a rabbit hole trying to find out where Emily is, about her mysterious past, all while the viewer finds that there are some darker aspects to Stephanie’s past too.When the movie was a thriller or mystery it was good, with real thrills, a real sense of danger, that there were bad people doing bad things, that Stephanie at times was definitely not safe as she at times pursued this investigation solo, even leaving the state all on her own. At times though the movie wasn’t a thriller (usually only a few minutes at a time) but more of a comedy, more fitting early on before Emily disappears but later kind of odd and not in a way of breaking up the tension but comedy for comedy’s sake. It never went quite far enough to undermine the tension of the thriller and noirish aspects or make the film preposterous but it was sometimes an odd fit. Not terribly odd or extremely jarring but it made the film feel at times like it didn’t want to know what it wanted to be.If the film ever got preposterous it wasn’t because of the comedy aspects but some of the central mystery. It is dark, heavy, at times ugly, but also convoluted, bizarre, byzantine, and at times a little soap operaish (though engaging). It was the sort of plot that would be one in a million to even exist and even longer odds to ever succeed, but then this is a movie and it was fun.Anna Kendrick was a delight to watch and did well with the comedy and the thriller aspects. Blake Lively nailed playing an enigmatic and charismatic Other, one that would definitely attract the attention and admiration of Anna’s character Stephanie. I thought the husband was a bit on the bland side but did ok in his role and for what was required of him (clearly this was a movie about Stephanie and Emily).I think the movie flirted with a Gone Girl style total reversal of audience perception of the main characters but never quite got there (my opinion, maybe that wasn’t even attempted). With some slight tweaks it might have gotten there or at least closer.It was a fun movie though I wouldn’t think too much about some of the central aspects of the thriller part of the story (which is most of the film). I would have liked some of the more comedic aspects toned down a bit and I gather that these elements were not in the novel it was based on.

Clever. Thought provoking. Subtle yet in your face. Some scenes and interaction between character seemed over-directed at times.

I can’t tell too much, but I enjoyed it. Watch part of the credits.

a true Sleeper as you might watch, there is a Beauty who is a Beast, Best Friend and a writer - husband.never saw the ending coming, the movie gets better and better, and when this movie could not get any better, IT DOES... watch through the credits. SHOCKER!!

enjoy watching it.

The high rating of this film prompted me to watch it. I was not disappointed but I felt it was over-rated. Definitely not a 5 or 4 star movie, IMO. The plot is interesting and the acting, at least in the first hour of the movie, is good and convincing. This movie is basically an Anna Kendricks' vehicle where she plays her role rather skillfully. The rest of the cast's performance is rather sketchy and in the last half hour, becomes rather amateurish.The story is supposed to be a mystery drama but the momentum in maintaining the suspense is hurried and spotty. The suspense and excitements of the plot unravels without a bang and the actors' performance deteriorates towards the end of the movie. It was as if we waited through the story for one hour to witness everything coming to an abrupt end in a rush. Some scenes such as the police investigations looked rather unrealistic. The most dubious part was Anna Kendricks' character's sudden transformation from a homely vlogger to a super-sleuth in matter of hours. It is an "ok" movie and perhaps worth watching at least once.

is a 2018 American black comedy thriller film directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Jessica Sharzer, based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Rupert Friend, and Jean Smart and follows a small-town blogger who tries to solve the disappearance of her mysterious and rich friend.A Simple Favor was released in the United States on September 14, 2018, by Lionsgate. Critics praised the plot twists and the performances of Kendrick and Lively. The film grossed $97 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.I missed this at the cinema and with a recommendation from Mr Kermode and a big fan of films with a twist I was intrigued by it and my first view came through an online streaming service one Sunday afternoon, being a fan of Anna Kendrick, I could not resist. I was not let down by a well-worked twist from the Hitchcock school of twists and this was soon added to my DVD collection.

Many twists and turns. Started off well but as time went on it seemed to flip between dark twisty thriller, comedy and romance. It became less intense, less scary and predictable. Unfunny humour, especially towards the end and not intense enough. Blake Lively was excellent as the disturbed Emily and was mesmerising to watch. Anna Kendrick seems to play the same naïve kind of character who develops into someone smart and knowledgeable. Trying to be in the same league as “Gone Girl” but not succeeding.

But it doesn`t seem to know what it wants to be; comedy or thriller. Enjoyable to watch though, just a little frustrating at the end when it decides to go full thriller.

A very good film, and Anna Kendrick, adorable, with her happy approach towards presenting her online home made cooking show in the movie. And she wants to be nice to everyone, and ends up delving into a mystery. That's all I'm going to to say. You're going to have to buy it to find out the outcome of the mystery. Great picture quality in Ultra HD HDR. Ultra HD HDR equipment needed for the 4K Disc as In, TV/Ultra HD player / Xbox One S or latest model.

After watching 2016'S Ghostbusters, and what Paul Feig blaming sexist, I wasn't impressed, thinking he was talentless and riding on the S.J.W bandwagon, however after getting this for my Dad's Christmas present I was impressed not what I was expecting in a good way