A Simple Favour

(M)  ★★½

Director: Paul Feig.

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Ian Ho, Joshua Satine, Bashir Salahuddin. 

It was easy to see who wore the pantsuit in this house.

"Let's do something like Gone Girl, but let's make it darkly funny, and we'll see if the delightfully wacky Anna Kendrick is available."

I assume this is how the pitch meeting for A Simple Favour went, and on paper it has appeal. Indeed for about half of its running time, this comedic thriller almost works.

But as the mystery begins to unravel, so does the film. A tone that was already wavering gets some serious wobbles, and by the end, all of its flaws are on display.

Kendrick plays Stephanie Smothers, a mommy vlogger goody-two shoes whose child goes to school with the son of martini-swilling glamazon Emily Nelson (Lively). Via their children, Stephanie and Emily strike up a friendship, despite being polar opposites.

But Emily has a dark side, which becomes increasingly apparent when she goes missing. A distraught and confused Stephanie goes searching for her, but the more she hunts, the more she learns about her new BFF that she wishes she hadn't.

The first half of A Simple Favour is far better than the latter, partly because the chemistry of Kendrick and Lively is so entertaining. Kendrick's goofiness plays nicely off Lively's darkness, and the film settles into a solid groove of offbeat humour.

But once an overly long flashback of "how Stephanie met Emily" wraps up and we get back to "the present" where Emily is missing, the film becomes a murder-mystery that feels more midday movie than anything. The humour becomes more sporadic and odd, and without the chemistry of Kendrick and Lively, A Simple Favour's goodwill fades.

And when the film loses Kendrick's POV, which it does from time-to-time in the latter half, the movie loses its focus. The mystery becomes increasingly predictable and less mysterious, and it all grinds down to an unsatisfying end.

If A Simple Favour was able to maintain its dark comedic lilt throughout, it would be a winner, but as so much of that humour lay in the juxtaposition of Stephanie and Emily - two fascinating characters, by the way - it means things fall flat once they're separated. A Greek chorus of fellow parents at their children's school is a good indicator of the patchiness of the film's comedy. They get some laughs early on, but by the end, it's not working. Similarly, the story gets increasingly unbelievable, as do Stephanie's actions. This may have been more palatable the humour had lasted, but it falters, and so does the film as a result.

It's a shame because the story itself isn't bad, the characters are good, and performances are strong, especially from Kendrick and Lively. Golding - so hot right now thanks to this and Crazy Rich Asians - is good again, while Salahuddin is good in an under-used role as a detective looking for someone to blame for Emily's disappearance.

The shades of Gone Girl are unmissable in the plot and occasional tone, and you have to admire the efforts of Feig and writer Jessica Sharzer to do something different to the tone to get it away from Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train.

Ultimately though, their efforts are unsuccessful, and after a promising start, A Simple Favour ends up underwhelming and disappointing. Given that so many elements of this work on paper, I feel like I should try Darcey Bell book upon which the film is based instead.