"A Simple Favor"

Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a single mother who does a video blog for other "Moms out there" featuring recipes, household and mothering hints, is eternally perky, and volunteers for everything at her son's kindergarten.  Emily (Blake Lively) is married, has a high powered job at a New York City fashion design house, and lives in a gorgeous home straight out of Architectural Digest.  About the only thing that the two of them have in common is the fact that their sons go to the same school and want to have a play date together.

So that is how Stephanie and Emily meet and, improbably, become good friends, maybe even best friends.  

Stephanie and Emily toast their friendship

Then one day, Emily calls Stephanie and asks for "a simple favor".  Seems she's tied up at work, so can she pick up her son after school, and take him home with her until she gets free.  Well, OF COURSE she can!

Then, Emily doesn't come home that night.  Or the next night, or the night after that.  Emily's husband Sean (Henry Golding) calls in the police, and an amazing series of twists and turns ensue right up to the movie's conclusion.

To say any more would be to give away key elements of the movie, which I won't do, because you should have the fun of taking them all in yourself when you see the movie, which I recommend that you do.  I will say that if you thought about it enough, you might find several plot holes and inconsistencies in this one, but, as Alfred Hitchcock once said, "It's only a movie", so forget about those things.  Just sit back and enjoy it.

I have only seen Anna Kendrick in two movies (and none of them were those Pitch Perfect ones), but I confess to finding her utterly charming.  In this one she is perky, shows a lack of self-confidence and vulnerability, and turns tough when she needs to do so.  Blake Lively is beautiful and icy.  Is she a good guy or a bad guy?  I'm still not sure.  Until last month, I had never heard of Henry Golding, but after seeing "Crazy Rich Asians" last month, I have now seen him in two movies in a row.  As he was in that one, he's good in this one, too.  I suspect that we will be seeing a lot of him in movies in the years ahead.

Three Stars from The Grandstander for "A Simple Favor".

Martinis play a key role in this movie