In a sentenceJohn Slattery has the right idea about celebrity dignity: make yourself useful by losing it
Gail Daughtry (Zoey Deutch) is a Midwestern woman at the centre of a Los Angeles sex comedy, approaching her desires with a mixture of naïveté and determination. John Slattery (John Slattery) and Jon Hamm (Jon Hamm) appear as themselves, while the surrounding ensemble includes Vincent (Ken Marino), Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) and Caleb (Ben Wang). Gail’s bluntness about sex sits alongside her sunny outlook as the story moves through celebrity encounters, Hollywood parody and recurring slapstick. Ludovica (Sabrina Impacciatore), Sergio (Joe Lo Truglio) and Niccolo (Mather Zickel) also figure in the ensemble.
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David Wain’s celebrity comedy gets by on Zoey Deutch’s warmth and John Slattery’s willingness to look ridiculous. There are laughs worth having, but the sprawling cast and overextended routines make 94 minutes feel less brisk than they should.
David Wain’s Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is a likeable comedy that could do with someone being firmer about when a joke has finished. Wain and co-writer Ken Marino favour cheerfully unreasonable behaviour, and their willingness to be silly is welcome. The difficulty is keeping that silliness going between the good routines. We would recommend it to viewers with an appetite for broad, wayward comedy, with a warning that the gaps are noticeable.
Zoey Deutch gives Gail a sunny certainty that helps the sexual material avoid becoming sour. Her naïveté leaves plenty of room for determination, particularly when she is being blunt about what she wants. We warmed to her because that sexual determination never costs her basic friendliness. It is a useful performance in a film this scattered: even when another joke wanders off, there is still someone at the centre worth spending time with.
John Slattery, playing himself, is the other reliable attraction. His straight-faced commitment gives the self-mockery room to become increasingly absurd, rather than stopping at the easy pleasure of recognising a famous person. Jon Hamm also appears as himself, so celebrity recognition is plainly part of the offer. Slattery makes a persuasive case for the device by behaving as though there is no reason to protect his dignity.
The hotel concierge business and the repeated slapstick show what Wain and Marino are after. A gag can run beyond the point at which a sensible person would stop it and become funny again through persistence alone. We enjoyed that stubbornness when another repetition made the slapstick still more ridiculous. But it is a demanding way to sustain a feature, and the weaker material exposes how long we are waiting for the next laugh.
John Daigle’s editing has to accommodate both these extended routines and a story that needs to keep moving. The balance is uneven, with the patience that benefits individual jokes also allowing the surrounding action to sag. Kevin Atkinson’s cinematography and Justin Lieb’s production design provide less of the film’s comic appeal than the performances do, while Craig Wedren’s music is similarly secondary to the actors’ delivery. The cast’s commitment remains the strongest reason to stay with it through the slack stretches.
The screenplay’s larger problem is the wandering ensemble. There is pleasure in a cast committing to nonsense, but the supporting business takes time away from a heroine who remains more engaging than much of what surrounds her. A broad spoof need not have a substantial story; it does need to make the diversions feel worth taking. Here, too many feel like ideas that earned a place by being available, rather than by being funny enough.
At 94 minutes, this ought to be an easy recommendation for a light evening, and the uneven rhythm makes us qualify it. There is enough warmth to keep the vulgarity companionable, and enough comic nerve to forgive some failed attempts. We would choose it for company already sympathetic to deliberately foolish humour. If a joke refusing to finish usually makes you impatient, Zoey Deutch can only do so much.
Most critics find Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass an enjoyably silly comedy, with praise clustering around its rapid-fire jokes and committed cast. Zoey Deutch is the clearest point of agreement: even some less enthusiastic reviews credit her sunny, spirited performance with keeping the absurdity afloat. John Slattery’s self-mocking turn also draws repeated praise. Supporters enjoy the mixture of warmth and vulgarity, and the willingness to keep pushing a ridiculous gag.
The spread is wide, however, and those prolonged jokes help explain the divide. Vulture finds that shared laughter in a cinema makes them funnier; The AV Club sees weak jokes, an unwieldy ensemble and a drawn-out subplot. Between those positions, reservations centre on uneven pacing, thin characterisation and a scattershot story. Even several favourable reviews concede that jokes miss or the film feels slight. The consensus favours the laughs, without agreeing on how much slack they earn.
The critic calls it arguably the funniest film of the year and urges audiences not to miss it. Zoey Deutch is singled out as the film’s comic heart, deftly handling its tonal shifts.
Read the full review →Zilko calls the film one of David Wain’s funniest, praising its rapid-fire jokes and precise blend of wholesomeness and vulgarity. He singles out John Slattery’s self-deprecating performance as a standout among the celebrity cameos.
Read the full review →Lawson finds the film a welcome, gleefully silly comedy, despite some jokes missing and the pacing sagging. He especially praises its oddball humor, including a hotel concierge bit and a riotously repetitive slapstick sequence.
Read the full review →Gleiberman finds the comedy succeeds at its main goal of making audiences laugh, while also offering a nostalgic satire of Hollywood. He especially praises John Slattery’s increasingly deranged, triumphant performance.
Read the full review →Hoepfner argues that the film is best experienced with a theater audience and celebrates its return to form. She especially praises how the crowd’s laughter makes the film’s deliberately prolonged jokes funnier.
Read the full review →Nicholson finds the comedy deliriously zany and charming, though its Oz allusions can become distracting. She especially praises Zoey Deutch’s spirited performance and the film’s rapid-fire jokes.
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Bowfinger · not reviewed yetFor Hollywood absurdity built around people determined to get their film made.
They Came Together · not reviewed yetFor romantic comedy conventions subjected to persistent, cheerfully unreasonable comic interference.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar · not reviewed yetFor sunny protagonists who remain agreeably themselves through increasingly ridiculous circumstances.
Smiley Face · not reviewed yetFor another Los Angeles misadventure carried by a committed comic lead.
The Return of the Hero · not reviewed yetFor French farce whose romantic complications depend on shameless, escalating deception.
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