Simple Favor complicates action

Having put down the adage that “women are not funny” with his movies Bridesmaids, and The Heat, director Paul Feig proves again that “yes they are” in the sequel to his A Simple Favor.  With Another Simple Favor, writers Darcey Bell, Jessica Sharzer, and Laeta Kalogridas move action five years down the line from the first film, maintaining edgy repartee between Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. The writers also shift dynamics a bit—Kendrick as a “mommy blogger” no longer worships Lively’s glamorous presence now marred by status as a recently released convicted murderer. Instead, the blogger worries whether a new simple favor involves her own demise. The favor? Serving as the murderer’s maid of honor on the picture-perfect isle of Capri. Stars and location make Another Simple Favor easy on the eyes. Kendrick once again displays likeable comic timing, while Lively plays a more subtle game and gets points for a strong and distinct performance. The women deliver their snarky

and often crude dialogue with precise awareness, and director Feig puts in his own awareness of fun pop culture references in the mix, including the Godfather and Italian movie music master Ennio Morricone. Popular references also include the first Simple Favor, covering enough background detail for the sequel to stand on its own. Like that first film, Another Simple Favor’s action heads into convoluted territory, lagging in its last third as the plot gets more and more farfetched. But neither Favor ever promised an insightful look at real-life crime adventures, making it enjoyable to hang around for the finale.  Or perhaps not the final kind of finale since territory remains open for yet another simple favor.