On September 14th, the movie A Simple Favor released in theaters. Being one of the many fans of the novel this movie is based on, I was at the theater opening night. Everyone says that books are always better than the movies, so one shouldn’t be disappointed when the movie is bad in comparison. I went into the theater with this in mind, but I was completely shocked once the movie was over.
For starters, A Simple Favor, the book, is definitely a drama thriller, in which a woman goes missing and her best friend starts an affair with her husband. There are many dark and twisted details that all come together to create a dark and thrilling read. When I learned that one of my favorite books were being turned into a movie, I was super excited to see all the previews and the trailer. When they were released, they looked exactly I would imagine them to, very mysterious and dark. When I saw that the director was Paul Fieg, known for directing Bridesmaids, some episodes of The Office, and for creating the comedy series Freaks and Geeks, I was really surprised that he would branch out and direct a drama/ thriller.
Once the movie started, it became very clear that this movie was a comedy. It almost felt like the movie was a spoof of the book as if it were making fun of it. I was so taken back. The trailers never marketed the movie to look like a comedy, so many audience members said that they were expecting something completely different.
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Although the movie was extremely different from the book and was a comedy, I wasn’t too mad about it. In defense of movie, it was extremely funny and there were moments where the entire theater was cracking up. This made the movie really enjoyable and fun to watch! But there was also a part of me that was annoyed by how different the movie was from the book, it seems like the only things they kept were the characters and the basic plot of a woman who goes missing.
Being someone who read the book and loved it, it was a little irritating that I bought my ticket thinking I was going to see an intense mystery movie and ended up watching a spoof-like comedy of what I was actually expecting.
All in all, the movie was entertaining and I would recommend going to see it before it leaves theaters. But if you’re one of the many book fans, be warned that it’s extremely different but also very amusing. And if you’re looking for a drama/ thriller, like the movie is advertised as, I don’t suggest going to see this movie, unless you’re open to see more of a comedic take on the plot. I have to give Paul Feig credit because he really did an amazing job of taking such a serious book and making it a really funny movie.
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