A Simple Favor is a mystery thriller film, directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Jessica Sharzer and based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell. The film follows a small town vlogger who tries to solve the disappearance of her mysterious and rich best friend. A very twisted plot that is a pleasant change from the all the aliens and super heroes we’ve been bombarded with lately.
Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a widowed single mother who runs a mom vlog featuring crafts and recipes. During one of her sessions, she discusses an investigation, along with her feelings surrounding the disappearance of her best friend, Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). In a flashback, Emily is a busy working mother, as a PR director for a fashion company. Emily’s son, Nicky Townsend-Nelson (Ian Ho) attends the same elementary school as Stephanie’s son, Miles Smothers (Joshua Satine). As a result of their new, fast growing friendship, which includes having play dates for the boys, and martinis for themselves the two women became inseparable.
They traded confidential and personal information about each other, at Emily’s request. Emily learned of a secret Stephanie held about her half brother, Chris (Dustin Milligan), which she would playfully tease Stephanie about. Emily reveals a secret about her husband, Sean Townsend (Henry Golding), an English professor who is also pursuing a writing career that has lead to their financial detriment. One day, Emily has a work crisis and asks Stephanie to babysit Nicky after school, which she happily obliges because Sean is in London.
This is the most I can reveal about A Simple Favor because the plot is so twisted I don’t want to give anything away. This movie is intense and exciting. The characters are intriguing yet shallow. The relationships between the two women was started fast and never got beyond 2 weeks. Sometimes we find ourselves drawn into a new relationship that is going so fast, we can’t seem to control it. We even find ourselves saying and doing things we don’t ordinarily do in order to satisfy the friendship. At some point we make a decision as to weather the relationship is a good one or a bad one, then we either get out of it or stay in. In the cast of Emily and Stephanie, we see that something is really stinking in Denmark. I liked the movie but found it somewhat unbelievable. However, you will be fully entertained as well as surprised at the final outcome. I recommend A Simple Favor to all — Check it out!
Trolls is a fantastic story told with beautiful vivid dazzling colors and out of this world graphics. The music was especially good because it took me back to the days when I grew up listening to the kind of music I loved but don’t get to hear much any more. It was great hearing those old songs mixed with some great new ones.
The Accountant is an extraordinary thriller, about a very high functioning Autistic child, Christian “Chris” Wolff (Ben Affleck) who is also a mathematical genius. Chris grows up and becomes a forensic accountant, tracking insider financial deceptions for numerous criminal enterprises brokered to him by a mysterious figure known as “The Voice”, contacting him only by phone. There are many surprises in this movie and the excitement never ends. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. I don’t believe there’s anything predictable about this film. Much care and research had to go into the making of The Accountant. Watching how Chris compensates for his mental deficiencies to make himself more concise and better able to do what’s necessary to get the job done is nothing short of remarkable. I was quite impressed with the movie.
For one, I love these new fairy tale fantasies. Into the Woods is well done. Into the Woods sort of reminds me of “Once Upon a Time”, which I watch on TV. There are a couple of similarities however, Into the Woods is big budget and brought to you by Disney. Need I say more. There’s not even too much more I can say about Meryl Streep except that she is a phenomenal actress. Into the Woods is a delightful musical fantasy that takes Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), Little Red Riding hood (Lilla Crawford) and Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and merges them together to make a new fairytale, with a twist. It all starts with the Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) that live in a house that was cursed many years ago. The witch (Meryl Streep) will reverse the curse if the baker and his wife bring her 4 items that they must retrieve from the woods. From this point, everyone is engaged with doing their part to get the job done. Many lessons are learned and many penalties are paid. If you see Into the Woods, you’ll love Meryl Streep as well as the rest of the cast. Tracey Ullman played Jack’s mom and Johnny Depp played the wolf. Christine Baronski played Cinderella’s step mom and was also great. Everyone seems so much younger than I thought they should be — good make-up. I found this movie to be entertaining with a good message. The singing was fantastic. Worth seeing!
CAROL's WORLDS 