A Simple Favor (2018)

I remember when the trailer first came out. My immediate reaction was "Wow Henry Golding is in a second Hollywood movie already? And he's married to Blake Lively? That's a pretty big deal." But my second reaction was that it looks like Gone Girl. Then I scrolled down to the Youtube comments and they were saying "Don't be deceived, it's nothing like Gone Girl." Lo and behold, now that I've seen the movie, it is very much like Gone Girl. My biggest problem with the movie is that the motivations are unclear. There are no motivations except craziness. Gone Girl has more motivation than that but the underlying drive is just her being crazy. I'm sort of confused and it bothers me a little. In retrospect, it's sort of weird that Anna Kendrick is the protagonist because she is totally external to the central plot. She actually plays the sleuth. I was sort of mislead into thinking she had more to do with the motive or maybe she was a scapegoat, but this has nothing to do with her.

It's a dark comedy, comedic in that it's absurd. I did actually laugh out loud at the absurdity, which does at times come off as fun because it takes itself pretty seriously. Even the music is funny. The glamor of suburban Connecticut is represented by French music, while her trip to New Yorker is accented by Latin music. Speaking of glamor, Blake Lively is gorgeous. The costumes on her are absolutely stunning. Oscar for the costume designer.

Spy (2015)

Melissa McCarthy is in fine form in her latest film after a string of subpar films. Her performance reminds us why she is an Emmy winner and Oscar nominee.  She is self deprecating and fully adept at physical comedy.  A spoof on the classic 007-type spy movies, Spy is raucously funny. The audience is constantly reminded that McCarthy does not look like your stereotypical secret agent, and in actuality that is to her benefit as an undercover spy.  McCarthy's performance is only one in a movie full of excellent performances.  Jason Statham turns up his intensity factor to play a satirical version of himself.  British comedian Miranda Hart is hilarious as is Rose Byrne, who puts on a pretentious British accent to play a villain. This is a solid, worthwhile comedy.