Another Simple Favor

Kendrick and Lively put on an honourable show, but can’t disguise a certain fatigue at carrying a narrative that barely rises above a creaky Scooby-Doo level.

The fun-filled summer vacays have arrived early with this gloriously silly sequel about murder, wealth porn and the inviolable, effervescent chemistry of Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick.

Sharzer and Kalogridis float a critique of the true crime industrial complex past our eyes, only to pull their punches at the crucial moment. But, clearly, Another Simple Favour has no aspirations beyond being a quick morsel. And a morsel it is.

When it’s just Emily and Stephanie sipping extra-dry martinis in the Italian sun while playing their own little game of “Fuck, Marry, Kill,” Another Simple Favor makes for a beguilingly off-kilter watch.

If Feig and company have the stomach to heed just one more simple favor: please, stop.

The plot’s a mess, the run time is overlong and ultimately the movie feels like a slew of good actors trapped in a gorgeous place, wearing beautiful clothes and gazing at the impossibly blue water.

Surprisingly revels in its mean-spirited overtones, pitting women against each other and gifting its leads with exposition dumps disguised as acid-tongued bickering.

Here, lunacy rules, and it is doused in expensive bottles of champagne, boats, parties, and jewelry that is probably a mortgage down payment. Even if you're extremely confused, at least the beachfront view is beautiful.

The switch from parodying cosy domesticity in the first film to a broader crime caper initially feels awkward, but ultimately works thanks to the calibre of the performances, including the introduction of Allison Janney as Emily's oddball aunt.

I did enjoy the various twists and turns and the chemistry between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively is fantastic. It's a little bit overstuffed, and a little bit complicated, but I still have a soft spot for it.