"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Thursday, September 20, 2018

The Book of Rannells: A Simple Favor (2018, R)


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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