Un piccolo favore

I'm compelled to review since the current rating of 6.8 vastly under estimates the fun factor of this movie. I found this title after watching Last Christmas which also starred Henry Golding. I assumed it was another chick flick but my husband acquiesced good-naturedly and ended up loving it as much as I did. The dialogue is clever and sometimes LOL funny and, while we did predict a couple of twists, it still delivered some surprises. Anna Kendrick shines as the unlikely "best friend" of Blake Lively. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Watching Blake on screen never dissapoints, but in this picture also Anna has a great performance from the almost naive soccer mom to the character at the end of the movie without losing the essence of her rol. Even though I would have change small aspects of the script, the plot kept me going trying to figure out the truth behind everything. The balance between the terrible things that happen and the everyday routine of a suburban neighborhood is, in my opinion, excellent. The movie was very much worth the time.

Apologetic, seemingly pristine vlogger and single mother Stephanie is thrown for a loop upon meeting beautiful, libertine (and manipulative) alpha female fashionista Emily when their schoolchildren arrange for a play date. Despite being polar opposites, the two women quickly form a friendship, but when Emily's whereabouts suddenly become unknown, Stephanie has her life turned completely upside down while trying to discover the fate of her new best friend. What initially begins as a straightforward drama eventually shifts tone into the realm of dark comedy and mystery thriller/whodunit, with an array of twists and turns (some which probably wouldn't bear close scrutiny) that seem to have taken a page from the works of Hitchcock! Tonally the film is all over the place, and makes some unusual choices for musical interludes, but it's never dull, often laugh-out loud funny, and benefits from an uninhibited performance from Lively, but it falls apart in the third act with an underwhelming ending that (possibly by intention?) feels like self-parody. **½

It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen and all the actors play roles they are typically type cast for. It was surprisingly funny though and honestly kind of enjoyable although super far fetched. At least it wasn't the same old recycled trash we've all been seeing lately.

I've seen so many noir type films that there's nothing surprising to me. I had very low expectations for this film. So it was better than I thought it would be. Fun film.