Andrew
Rannells is in a few things coming out this fall, of which A Simple Favor is the first, so I’ll be making periodic breaks from
The New Normal to review new stuff as
I see it (the exception will be the second season of Big Mouth, which drops at the start of October – since I haven’t
reviewed Rannells’s episodes from season 1 yet, it wouldn’t make sense to jump
ahead, so I’ll hold off on them.) This
movie definitely defied my expectations, and while it has a really unusual
tone, I found myself quite pulled into it (premise spoilers.)
Stephanie
is a suburban super-mom, a chipper young widow who signs up for too many volunteering gigs at her son’s
school in between running her own mommy vlog and generally making the other
parents look bad. When she meets Emily,
the mother of a boy in her son’s class, the two couldn’t be more different: Emily is a stylish breadwinner with a house
to die for and no illusions about her not-super-maternal nature. However, the two become unlikely friends
through their kids, which drags Stephanie into a whirlwind when Emily
disappears. Even as she tries to offer a
supportive shoulder to Emily’s husband and son during a difficult time,
Stephanie becomes increasingly convinced that there’s more going on than the
police think, and she begins her own investigation.
By the
time I saw the first trailer for this movie, I’d already heard that Rannells
was in it, and since I knew I’d be watching it for his sake anyway, I was
pleased at how good it looked, stylish and atmospheric and mysterious. I’ve always enjoyed Anna Kendrick, and her
over-earnest Stephanie seemed like a neat contrast to Blake Lively’s devastatingly
put-together Emily. Throw in Henry
Golding (lately Nick Young in Crazy Rich
Asians!) as Emily’s husband Sean, and I very likely would’ve seen the film
even without Rannells being in it.
While the
film is everything its trailer depicted, it’s also very surprisingly
funny. I mean, I guess not “surprising”
in the sense that it was made by Paul Feig, of Bridesmaids fame, but surprising in that the trailer gave no
indication of how much humor is in this movie.
That’s what I mean when I say it defied my expectations – it very
literally wasn’t what I expected. A lot
of humor comes simply from the contrast between the two women, Stephanie with
her Target socks and always-trying-so-hard vibe dropped into Emily’s
afternoon-martini-and-haute-couture existence, but there are other strong
comedy sources in the film as well (including from Rannells, who I’ll get to in
a minute.)
As such,
the film feels like two different movies at times, a thriller and a comedy
wrapped up in an examination of the secret lives of suburban moms. The humor isn’t a constant enough presence to
make it a full-on comedy that’s working within the genre of a thriller, and
there are definite points of tonal whiplash as the film navigates the two. In a way, though, I suppose the somewhat-off
feel of the film itself mirrors the odd mesh of Stephanie and Emily’s
friendship – two wildly-different things that don’t seem like they ought to fit
together but ultimately are rather weirdly-compelling to watch.
It has
its rocky moments, particularly as the twists in Stephanie’s investigation get too twisty, but on the whole, I like it
a lot. All the acting is terrific, the
dialogue is strong, and tons of care has gone into the sets and costumes, all
of which are completely on-point.
As for
Rannells, he plays Darren, the one dad in the “mom group” from the school. He and his cohorts, Sona and Stacy, serve as
a fairly gossipy Greek chorus to the film.
Just as they judge Stephanie for being overly involved, they side-eye
Emily’s busy work schedule, and when Emily disappears, they’re full of theories
about what happened to her as well as insinuations about whether Stephanie is
getting “too close” with Emily’s family.
Darren is
a familiar character type for Rannells, although considerably less outrageous
than the likes of Elijah or Bryan. He’s
bitchy in somewhat subtler shades, and since it’s all placed within this
suburban-parent ecosystem, he judges and quips about very specific things that
are unique to this setting. (But I have
to admit, seeing this character does
make me wonder what Bryan would’ve been like with a kid that age if The New Normal had continued long
enough.) He’s also really funny – any
scene with Darren in it is bound to have at least a few awesome lines. Naturally, he has plenty of hilarious digs
about both Stephanie and Emily, but my favorite moment is when he takes a short
break from that to look at his daughter, who’s in his arms pulling on his shirt
buttons, and very frankly asks, “What is that matter with you?” Perfect
timing/delivery; I laughed so hard.
Not for
nothing, I also appreciate that Darren being in the mom group isn’t a
“thing.” It’s not commented on at all,
it just is. It’s part of the film’s
low-key inclusion, which also features Emily and Sean’s interracial marriage
and their mixed-race child, as well as the kids’ teacher, who wears a hijab.
Recommend?
In
General
– Yes. It’s an odd mix of a film, but
while there are places where that doesn’t quite work, the overall effect is
very engrossing and watchable. Of the
movies Rannells has been in, this is my favorite (I know I’ve only reviewed Bachelorette so far, but keep in mind I
already did my initial “work my way through an actor’s filmography”
extravaganza, and The Book of Rannells is just circling back around to give
them all write-ups.)
Andrew
Rannells
– I would. Even though Darren isn’t a
big role and he’s not really anything that Rannells hasn’t played before, he’s
very fun and memorable. Just as A Simple Favor is my favorite film of
Rannells’s in general, it’s also the one that uses him the most effectively,
even if it’s still sparingly.
Warnings
Sexual
content, violence, language, drinking, drug references, and strong thematic
elements.
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