at its best moments a simple favor
actually reminds me of a place in the
Sun which if you're at all familiar with
that movie it's pretty darn high praise
and if you're not familiar with it allow
me to take a moment to familiarize you
so A Place in the Sun is a Hollywood
classic one of the most famous
melodramas of all time also about an
average person envying a better life
with a murder and a picturesque lake
that moment is actually when it struck
me what the movie was reminding me of I
was like oh my god it's a place in the
Sun and that movie stars some of
Hollywood's most famous actors and it's
from the incredibly talented director
producer George Stevens but alas Paul
Fogg proves to be no George Stevens and
in the third act a simple favor goes
embarassingly off the rails with moments
so cringe including a jarring ly unfunny
line from Andrew Rannells who's normally
hilarious like for instance when I saw I
didn't know he was in this movie so when
I saw him in the opening credits I was
like oh boy and then I was like oh no he
doesn't have that big of a role anyway
and then there's like a what happened to
everyone like writing on the screen and
I have to say I'm like half embarrassed
to say like they do at the end of all
the seasons of Real Housewives right
those moments are getting so bad that
it's shocking to me that if Paul Feig
didn't have the sense to cut them that
he wasn't overridden by the studio so
many people had to sign off on these
moments I can't believe that they did
but the first two-thirds of the movie
are such a trashy guilty pleasure again
Real Housewives although this does seem
like a movie I'll address that and there
are occasional perfect moments that
harken back to all Hollywood so a simple
favor might actually end up doing okay
anyway you know maybe maybe moderately
at the box office or maybe even not that
well but I think again we have ourselves
a streaming hit because although I have
to even once the movie is over it's
interesting like I wrote in my notes
like you and you've sat through the
horrible ending feeling embarrassed for
having liked it at all that's how I felt
when the movie ended you know I've told
you before that you're if you're gonna
have only some good some good moments in
your movie have them at the beginning so
people feel invested and then have them
at the end so they leave the theater
feeling good but this movie since its
worst moments at the end you leave with
a bad taste in your mouth but you know
thinking about it now as I'm talking to
you I really did think that the first
two-thirds of the movie were good so I
can't be that hard on it and without a
doubt the movie is a tremendous calling
card for Anna Kendrick like seriously
her management should send this to
everybody and she she does um I think
this is her best work yet and I would
say she's playing a millennial Jessica
Fletcher and that's a pitch right better
by the way not the pitch that the I
think that sounds like a TV pitch is why
they probably didn't go with it and
Kendrick though she is given a juicy
mystery and with it's bizarre enough by
the way that even though we aren't
allowed to figure it out with her that
usually really endorsement annoys men
like let me play along I want to figure
it out too but it's so again so juicy
and so bizarre that I was not only
intriguing to watch everything unfold
but I really enjoyed seeing her
character blossom as she did the legwork
that was cool too although I have to
also point out that it was revealed that
her character has done something rather
awful in her past and it's to Kendricks
credit as a talented likable actress
that the audience can still root for her
after that is revealed yes pretty bad
it's actually indefensible to be honest
with you but for some reason I was like
actually you know what it's in the past
alright so but as for Henry Golding
coming off of crazy rich Asians and
Blake Lively they are extremely well
cast in their roles even if their
characters aren't as well or as
believably constructed as Kendricks but
occasionally the movie asked them to
step out of their comfort zones as
actors and they simply can't step up to
the plate producing some more cringe
moments and there's like elements in
their back I don't wanna give anything
away but they're elements of their
backstory that when you think about it
you're like that doesn't make any sense
but well actually there's a pivot I
don't give anything away again but
there's a pivotal moment and there at
the beginning of their relationship that
takes place on an
plain that I didn't understand how his
character could get past quite frankly I
mean I guess I could but I don't think
the movie did a good job selling us on
that so there were things like that that
would occasionally take you out and
again that was towards the end so I was
already like I'm watching this movie
also a friend of mine pointed out the
Blake Lively's wardrobe is just an
exaggerated version of what Paul Feig
likes to wear so I can't think of her
character the same way after that
because that's totally what it is but I
also have to give a shout out to Rupert
friend who has what's essentially a
cameo but he knocks it out of the park
and I've never seen Rupert friend play a
role like this so it was really fun
Linda Cardellini and gene smart also do
nice but unfortunately quick work and
Bashir salahuddin makes a strong
impression with what he's given he's
actually from glow where he also does a
good job and he's working as one up he
had a couple more lines this time around
good for him and again it's worth noting
these days as I said you know you know
television is so popular that people
often say we'll shoot isn't this maybe
this should have been a television show
right movies now it's up to movies to
prove that they shouldn't have gone you
know the small screen wrapped and I
would say thanks to very slick
production values the houses all the
locations I thought were really
picturesque and Kendricks dynamic
performance this does still seem very
much like a genuine movie so is it one
you should see though I'd say yes just
remember that it's a trashy guilty
pleasure and you know you can see it as
a matinee as I did other that been made
for a fabulous matinee actually or on a
plane or in a hotel or all cozy on a
sofa or in your bed right that's what
kind of movie this is also it's a parent
apparently the movie was pitched as gone
girl meets girl on the train and I can
see where they're coming from there and
I'd say it's in the middle between those
two and you know I think I'll have to
figure out for yourself exactly where in
between those two at Falls but with a
better director and a better actress
opposite Kendrick Lively's fine by the
way I think she did a perfectly
serviceable job and again as I said I
think she was very well cast but she's
now say Angelina Jolie in her prime who
would have killed in this role and made
it or something that people well
are talking about this movie but more
because I think Blake Lively and Anna
Kendrick are both just so fun as like
celebrity personas but Angelina Jolie
would have like oh it's not like
original sin Angelina Jolie think like
Girl Interrupted Angelina Jolie if she
had gone I think with the right director
who could have steered I mean again it's
not only the actress but also the
director so if you had a better director
and again a better actress and that
director could steer that better actress
to give the performance that she should
for this role well then I think maybe we
would have gotten something on the level
of gone girl fully or A Place in the Sun
basically you should watch A Place in
the Sun and really all of George
Stevens's movies he's not one of the
more famous directors over time but he
should be he's incredibly talented and
giant by the way is my personal favorite
even at over three hours long it's
really long but it doesn't feel that way
and it's just absolutely sensational so
that's my review of a simple favor
I'm curious to hear your own thoughts
down below again there are a lot of
twists and turns in this movie so you
have a spoiler comment be sure to mark
it as such and of course as always you
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