“Why am I here?”

Stephanie Smothers

It is a fair question seven years after the martini-fuelled comedy/thriller A Simple Favor proved forgettable despite the chemistry between its leads. With Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick returning along with director Paul Feig, the only missing ingredient was a compelling reason to reunite the characters. Two hours later I am none the wiser, other than that these are presumably cheap to make. The sparse setup has Emily released from prison and crashing Stephanie’s book tour with an unexpected request that she join her wedding in Italy as the maid of honour. This provides a reasonably witty half hour of verbal sparring between the leads, if outshone by Henry Golding’s retorts as Emily’s vitriolic ex husband. As the script gives way to its mafia and familial intrigue, however, my engagement rapidly waned. Surprisingly, Another Simple Favor is a more grounded story than its predecessor, which is not to say it is any less far-fetched. Once again, there is nothing for the audience to solve, simply a series of revelations — not even twists since there is no misdirection — to observe. The chirpy voiceover from Stephanie’s mommy vlogging turned true crime podcast is now perfunctory rather than fresh, particularly when the conceit has been explored far more effectively in the intervening years by Only Murders in the Building. Gallingly, the film closes by teasing a continuation (“Yet Another Simple Favor”?) — low-cost sequels are perhaps the ideal fodder for “streaming content” and that, Stephanie, is really why you are here.

5/10