As someone in the film criticism space who goes to the theater multiple times a week, attends film festivals, and just discusses upcoming releases regularly with friends, it’s hard for me to go into many films completely blind. Even if I haven’t seen a trailer, I’ve likely heard something about a movie before I sit down to watch it. Somehow, I got to Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, not knowing anything beyond the basic plot description. Imagine my surprise to learn it was made with the same team that created Wet Hot American Summer, one of my favorite films of all time.
Directed and co-written by David Wain, Gail Daughtry stars Zoey Deutch as the titular Gail, a small-town girl from Kansas who goes on a quest to sleep with Jon Hamm after her fiancé, Tom (Michael Cassidy), takes the whole celebrity sex pass thing too literally with Jennifer Aniston. She then travels to Los Angeles with fellow hairstylist Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) to find Mr. Hamm and even the score with Tom.
Like most comedies, there are bits that work and bits that don’t, but the vast majority hit really hard here. Deutch is a much-welcome addition to the frequent flyers in the David Wain comedic orbit, and it’s her performance that puts this film over the top in my mind. Not everyone can fit into this absurd, deadpan style, and she blends in brilliantly with the seasoned veterans in the cast. Deutch has nailed comedy before, like in 2018’s Set It Up or 2019’s Zombieland: Double Tap, but Wain and co-writer Ken Marino’s brand of humor is much more specific.
The underrated MVP of the movie is John Slattery playing a fictional version of himself. He starred alongside Jon Hamm in Mad Men, so Gail and her squad seek him out in hopes that he can introduce him. Slattery is disheveled and decrepit, living in a small townhouse and out of work. He has some consistently funny bits, particularly one involving a door, and I will absolutely be calling him “The Slat Man” from here on out.
Whether each joke lands is up for debate, but you can’t deny how committed to the bit everyone on screen is. No one seems disinterested. It takes high levels of commitment to sell bits that start off somewhat funny, keep going until it’s not funny anymore, only to come all the way around to being hilarious.
Another favorite moment involves Sergio (Joe Lo Truglio), a mobster searching for Gail after they accidentally swapped luggage at the airport, encountering a hot bowl of soup. I couldn’t believe how many characters they got involved here, and how long it went on for, and I was legitimately crying laughing by the end of it.
It’s not hard to see the clear parallels in Gail Daughtry to The Wizard of Oz (1939). Gail is from Kansas, and assembles a ragtag team of people each seeking a seemingly all-powerful, yet elusive, person who can help them achieve even their most far-fetched dreams and desires. There are more overt homages (although I’m not sure it’s quite an homage if it’s just taking exact scenes from the original movie and doing it with your characters) sprinkled throughout the film that are just a delight to take note of amidst all the other shenanigans on screen. It’s way over-the-top, but that’s why it lands. Any less commitment would make it fall flat, but it sneaks in these references for a few slight laughs, then goes for broke in the final few minutes of the movie to really drive it home in a couple of hysterical sequences.
In comparison to other comedies this year, Gail Daughtry carves out a special place for itself without encroaching on or duplicating other comedic lanes. There’s room for a movie like this and the more grounded July (or June if you live in New York or Los Angeles) comedy release and fellow Sundance selection, The Invite. The Invite feels more adult, and has a lot to say about marriage and relationships, where Gail Daughtry is pure entertainment (complimentary).
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is by far the silliest, most absurd movie of the summer. Zoey Deutch proves to be up to the task of tackling the style Wain and company have been creating for over thirty years, and I wouldn’t mind seeing this team collaborate again in the near future.
Review Courtesy of Cameron K. Ritter
Feature Image Credit to Sony Pictures Classics