Last week, I recorded a guest slot on the fabulous One Good Thing podcast, in which we discussed Inconceivable, a fairly obscure domestic thriller starring Nicholas Cage and Gina Gershon. The film is pretty bad, but it falls into one of my all-time favourite micro-genres, which I have lovingly dubbed ‘bitches be crazy’.
BBC movies invariably feature a seemingly lovely woman who, over the course of a film, infiltrates the life and home of the movie’s here and sets out to destroy them. Fatal Attraction is the high watermark of this genre, with The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and Single White Female also strong representatives.
I mentioned that I’d like to bring another BBC movie to the table on Beyond The Box Set, the OGT Pauls recommended A Simple Favor highly. Released in 2018, the film is directed by Paul Feig – of Bridesmaids fame – and stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively as a pair of young mothers whose unlikely friendship quickly devolves into deception, intrigue and murder.
It’s a fun, bonkers watch that manages to stay just on the right side of knowingly ridiculous – essentially playing like all seven seasons of Desperate Housewives crammed into a two-hour movie. Kendrick stars as the ludicrously named Stephanie Smothers, a lonely widow whose type-A personality and fondness for vlogging attracts only the scorn of her fellow parents.
Everything changes when she encounters Blake Lively’s Emily Nelson, a glamorous PR director who lives in a fabulous mansion, dresses like an intriguing combination of Diane Keaton, 80s Michael Jackson and Stevie Nicks and appears to be constantly nursing a frosted martini.
To reveal more would give away too many surprises – and this movie certainly benefits from going in more or less blind. It doesn’t quite elevate to the level of Parasite or Gone Girl (another BBC classic), and it could probably have done with some judicious editing, but it makes enough bold, bonkers choices to be more than worth your time. Great shout, Pauls!
On this week’s podcast, we discuss bananas back stories, the gay greek chorus, Jean Smart’s instant entry into the wig watch hall of fame and much more – along with our regular features such as drinking games, listener reviews and sequel pitches.
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Next week, we’ll be jumping back to the 90s for a provocative, problematic classic from French director Luc Besson. Until then, happy listening and remember – it’s always 5pm somewhere…