74% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 193 reviews)
Runtime: 131 minutes
Directed by: Paul Feig
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Skelnar, Indiana Elle, Elizabeth Perkins
From: Lionsgate
No, I did not watch this movie because I’m a heterosexual male who wanted to look at Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried on the big screen. In fact, my opinion of Ms. Sweeney is probably needed for context. She’s not someone I have as the wallpaper on the phone yet she isn’t loathed by me-which seems to be the increasingly popular opinion now-whether it be her alleged political beliefs or the quality of her acting. I have no idea what’s even true concerning the former (it’s perhaps best I don’t know for certain) and at least in my eyes, she isn’t dreadful when it comes to the latter. I’ll say more about her in the conclusion.
The main reason this was viewed did not relate to Paul Feig, either; the presumably similar A Simple Favor movies haven’t been tackled by me—to be blunt, most of his filmography is of no interest to my tastes. Instead, hearsay telling me The Housemaid was a trashy, tawdry tale plus my having the AMC A-List app meant I could take a chance on something like this. Indeed, this story of ex-con Sweeney being hired for the titular job at the house of rich couple Seyfried, husband Brandon Skelnar and 7-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, Seyfried appears to be out of her mind. Lest you think this is a standard “bitches me crazy” film…
Of course I hadn’t read the original Freida McFadden novel so this was a blind experience for me; there’s more than one twist along the way. In terms of acting, Amanda Seyfried was in fact better than Sydney Sweeney, although the latter wasn’t terrible in my eyes. Skelnar had a rather interesting role, because reasons… the main takeaway from the film was that it WAS tawdry trash (featuring nudity from Sweeney, for those interested in such sights), yet was entertaining at the same time despite some serious moments.
What helped the experience was that this Sunday evening screening at the cinema still drew a decent-sized crowd despite being out for over a month now. The movie was designed to elicit loud reactions from an audience at least a few times-my crowd responded appropriately, allowing for a fun atmosphere. This is a reason why I can’t get too mad at the film despite legit criticisms, such as logic or the need for the movie to be over 2 hours in length.
As for Sweeney, while I can’t condone her breaking the law and trespassing at the Hollywood sign to advertise her new lingerie line, otherwise I can’t get too mad at her playing up her sex appeal. Heck, who knows how long her shelf life will be, anyhow. At least I can commend her for being a producer on several films-Christy got a mixed reception at best but the story of boxer Christy Martin is an interesting one and it’s neat that Sydney purchased the rights to the script for Immaculate because it was in development hell and she believed in the story.
Both she and Amanda Seyfried (believe it or not, this was my first Seyfried movie, period) were among the executive producers; however, I’ll end this review here as the presumption is that more than a few reading this don’t care for Ms. Sweeney so it’s best if I don’t continue on; the fears that there will be arguments in the comments section… I really hope this doesn’t occur.
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