'Another Simple Favor' SXSW review: Bigger sequel doesn’t equal better results
Courtesy of Prime Video/SXSW
If I had a nickel for every mid-to-late 2010s movie that wasn’t a massive box office hit but got a sequel, released by the same studio and premiering at SXSW, I’d have two nickels. Enter “Another Simple Favor”—the second film after “The Accountant 2” (which, ironically, also starred Anna Kendrick) to achieve that rare feat. I can understand why the festival programmers chose Paul Feig’s sequel as their opening night film: it has lavish locations, major star power, and most people enjoyed 2018’s clever “A Simple Favor” enough to want to see where these characters have ended up.
But as they say, bigger doesn’t always mean better. “Another Simple Favor,” which is bypassing a theatrical release in favor of streaming on Prime Video, is a rather lackluster attempt to throw too much at the screen in hopes that audiences won’t notice it’s doing an obvious riff on the “Knives Out” franchise. Where the first film had a rhythmic, minimalist mystery at its core, the sequel stumbles with one convoluted plot device after another. I’m not exaggerating when I say this movie has about sixteen different endings.
At least Feig succeeded in getting Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively to return, both of whom seem eager to slip back into their characters’ shoes. However, their dedication to the material (with special kudos to Lively, who endures the most) isn't enough to rescue this meandering sequel. The rest of the cast is left with little to work with, offering little more than shallow, undeveloped roles.
The film opens with one of those clunky narrations where mommy blogger-turned-Nancy Drew Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) reflects on being placed on house arrest after being accused of murder in Capri, Italy. How did she get there? The movie promptly backtracks to the beginning, where we learn that Emily (Lively), who somehow managed to exploit legal loopholes to get her 20-year prison sentence reduced, asked Stephanie to be her maid of honor for what she believes will be "the wedding of the decade." Given the events of the first film, you’d expect Stephanie to take a hard pass, but curiosity—and, of course, the plot—prevail.
Once they arrive in Italy (set to a heavy Italian soundtrack), Feig takes the opportunity to reintroduce some familiar faces, including Henry Golding as Emily’s manically repressed alcoholic ex-husband, and to add plenty of new ones. Writers Laeta Kalogridis and Jessica Sharzer don’t shy away from expanding the cast with newcomers like Allison Janney and Elizabeth Perkins, as if to further confuse audiences trying to untangle what inevitably becomes a rather predictable whodunit.
There are some callbacks to the original, and the filmmakers deserve credit for balancing fan service. Lively and Kendrick’s commitment to various bits, including the incestuous one-liners from the first film, certainly injects “Another Simple Favor” with some spark. And the wide shots of various Italian landmarks are a welcome distraction amid a plot weighed down by excess baggage.
“Another Simple Favor” seems to be setting up for future installments, as if the title itself is intended as a series tagline. There’s a part of me that sees this becoming Kendrick and Lively’s “Fast & Furious.” Who knows, maybe they’ll end up in space? Now that could be worth exploring.
Grade: C-
ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Amazon Prime will release the film on streaming May 1st.
Comments