Another Simple Favor

Starring: Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Allison Janney, Henry Golding, Alex Newell, Bashir Saladhuddin, Michele Morrone, Ian Ho, Elizabeth Perkins, Elena Sofia Ricci, Andrew Rannells
Directed by: Paul Feig
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Thriller
2025

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is shocked when Emily (Blake Lively) shows up and forces her to travel to Italy with her, to be her bridesmaid.

Review:

Tim: It took seven years, but we got a sequel to the schlocky, surprisingly fun A Simple Favor. The cast is all back, Paul Feig returns to direct the film, and I'd say this is a worthwhile sequel. Like the first movie, this film has some clear and obvious flaws. Similar the original, though, the cast and the general tone and feel of the movie lifts it up higher than it should have flown. While I rated this movie the same as the first one, I want to be clear up front that it's obviously not as good.

It does feel like this movie benefits significantly from the goodwill from the first movie. It was genuinely fun to see Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively step back into these roles, and it was mostly enjoyable to watch them on this crazy, twisting, unexpected journey. Everything feels a bit more forced this time around, but I still enjoyed myself. In some ways, the story feels even more secondary this time around. It matters, but the whole thing is farfetched, a bit illogical, but entertaining. If you come into this movie hoping for anything realistic or believable, you'd leave horribly disappointed. This is a upscale soap opera. The film knows exactly what it wants to be. Now, the execution of that doesn't always work, but it's more effective than not.

The biggest strength of the film is Anna Kendrick. She did a great job in the first movie, but here, we see real growth and change in the character of Stephanie Smothers. Emily even comments on that in the movie. I truly appreciated this- so often, an actor reprising a role in a sequel plays it the exact same way. There's no sense of personal growth or change. Here, Stephanie is wildly different than in the original. She's confident, sassy, funny. These are all hallmarks of Kendrick, so it was wonderful to see her play a role so firmly in her wheelhouse. I liked the evolution of Stephanie and I had fun watching Kendrick do her thing. I've never been a fan of Blake Lively- I don't think she is a good actress (among other things). She didn't do anything to convince me here. She's fine in the role, her performance is solid- but it felt like this was more about her getting to wear outlandish, stylish outfits vs. giving a grounded or believable performance. She is a good opposite to Kendrick, although I feel like Kendrick really carries the partnership.

I was excited to see Henry Golding back, but I wasn't a fan of how his character was presented. If Stephanie has evolved since the first movie, Golding's character has devolved. That's okay, but his character felt too one-note. He acts in absurd ways that truly defy logic or believability. That part of the movie really bummed me out, because I like Golding, but it's nearly impossible to like what he does here. Allison Janney and Elizabeth Perkins were okay additions to the cast. They're solid actresses, but I wasn't a big fan of their characters, or how they brought them to life. I had a collective shrug at their work. The rest of the supporting cast is decent- there's a lot of actors in fairly decent-sized roles that I'm not going to go into detail here. They were fine, but no real standout performances.

I do want to say that I liked the movie more at the beginning- it was fun, a bit joyful at the reunion and the craziness of the whole situation. Changing the location to Italy was a great shift that made this movie feel fundamentally different to the first one. As the film progresses, things get messy. By the end of the movie, it feels like it extinguished the goodwill from the original. I honestly forgot how the climax of the movie wrapped up and had to ask my wife the day after. It's not good. I wouldn't call the film especially funny, but Kendrick does deliver some hilarious lines with charismatic and great comedic timing. A lot of those happen early, but it's quite entertaining to watch. I do wish more of the jokes connected- the film is incredibly uneven comedically.

Another Simple Favor is a good movie, but just barely. It desperately needed the goodwill from the original. The reviews were middling and I see and understand that. I likely rated this a bit higher than most, but I did have fun for the first half. The way things wrapped up, the incredulity of it all, I don't think there should be a third film. While the characters could continue, I don't think there's a clear way to make another movie worthwhile. I do feel lucky that we got to see these characters again, and while this movie is overall a good one, it does leave a bit of a bad taste in your mouth.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: A Simple Favor, Pitch Perfect, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, It Ends With Us