The Housemaid

How realistic is it that someone would accept total irrationality over a relatively stable—if sucky—situation? That’s another way of saying the truly preposterous character in this flick is not Amanda Seyfried’s lunatic wife and mother but Sydney Sweeney’s putative down-on-her-luck heroine. There are roughly 35,000 points at which a rational person would ask a pertinent question and figure out that the situation was one that recommended extraction ASAP. Instead we get a woman—check that, we get multiple women—who get themselves way too deep into an absurdity, and then all that follows follows. So be it. Given certain story parameters, this is obviously meant to be a female revenge fantasy, and from that perspective the film achieves its goal, and does so with an adequate amount of being entertaining (and amusing, if you really dig violent comeuppance). Plus you get ample opportunity to ogle Sweeney and her rather famous talents (the movie isn’t shy about the show-off factor), not to mention the still-quite-fetching Seyfried. So overall, it’s hardly a waste of your time, even if it isn’t a masterpiece. If nothing else, you will learn a valuable lesson: sometimes the help needs help.

Bridesmaids

I was sure I'd give this movie a PURR after watching the first hour. Then things started to falter, and doubts crept in. Eventually, the story rallied, and enough laughs came in the final half-hour or so to hold the whole enterprise up in positive territory. But the unevenness is there, and worth noting, meaning this flick is not quite the perfect piece of work it is often made out to be. Still, this one is probably the best work from at least some of the principals involved, particularly Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and (maybe) Melissa McCarthy. It's definitely worth watching--I'm just saying maybe don't marry it.

A Simple Favor

Your mother was right: naughty people are naughty, and you shouldn't play with them. Though it can be fun to watch others play with those proverbial matches. Despite the ethereal presence of Blake Lively here, Anna Kendrick is the shining star--and not just because I've crushed on her since forever. Her slightly-goofy, next-door-girl appeal provides interesting and entertaining relief against this story's noirish aspects and lifts the proceedings into rarer air than this flick would probably otherwise attain. A couple of demerits must be noted due to the use of one particular old cliched trope, plus some mild predictability in the climax, but those are quibbles. All in all, this flick is a fun watch.