In the charming town of Willowbrook, Kansas, hairdresser Gail Daughtry is engaged to her devoted high school sweetheart, Tom. Her life takes a turn when a trip to a book signing leads to Tom meeting – and sleeping – with his “celebrity pass.” Reeling from the betrayal, Gail impulsively joins her friend Otto on a trip to Los Angeles, where a psychic convinces Gail that the only way to save her marriage is to “even the scales” with her own celebrity pass: Jon Hamm. Thus begins an epic journey through Tinseltown as Gail and Otto join forces with a talent agency assistant, a paparazzo, and actor John Slattery, all in the search for Hamm. Along the way, they collide with celebrities and are hunted by a group of Italian assassins as they get ever closer to finding the elusive star.
What We Thought:
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is this year’s The Naked Gun. It’s either your type of humor or you’ll hate it. Fortunately for me I grew up on The State, Reno 911, Wet Hot American Summer, The Wizard of Oz and Mad Men so I had an absolute ball with it. The Wizard of Oz and Mad Men might seem out of place there, but watch the movie and you’ll get it.
The almost too cute Zoey Deutch plays Gail Daughtry, a small town Kansas girl on the cusp of her wedding. When her fiancé cashes in his celebrity sex pass with Jennifer Aniston, Gail is convinced the only way to mend her relationship is to cash in her pass and sleep with Jon Hamm. Her fish-out-of-water adventure takes her to a far off land (Los Angeles) where she meets new friends along the way all needing something in their life that this adventure can provide.
That paragraph should explain why I referenced The Wizard of Oz. I also mentioned Jon Hamm, but Mr. Don Draper isn’t the only connection to Mad Men. John Slattery (who played Roger Sterling in the advertising drama) plays a version of himself and absolutely steals the film. Slattery has done things after Mad Men in real life, but in the movie he sort of plays a down-on-his-luck type who still texts with Hamm, but it’s really one-sided. In a film full of comedians, Slattery absolutely crushes getting big laughs playing against type.
If you are familiar with The State or Wet Hot American Summer, you’ll see all kinds of familiar faces from the David Wain-verse. Ken Marino plays a paparazzo who joins the adventure because getting a photo of Jon Hamm is his white whale. Kerri Kenney-Silver cameos. Thomas Lennon plays an over-the-top hair stylist icon. Joe Lo Truglio plays a hired gun who is clearly a flying monkey type. Wain himself cameos as Marino’s former boss. You either know and love this group or you have no idea who they are.
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is right up my alley. I had fun with it and yeah it is really stupid, but it’s intentionally that way. The absolutely adorable Deutch is easy to root for and everyone in the cast understood their assignment. It’s something I’ll eventually own on physical media and rewatch. If you’re a late GenX kid who still quotes “I wanna dip my balls in it” or “I’m Doug and I’m outta here” then the film is…
RECOMMENDED!
Directed By: David Wain
Written By: Ken Marino & David Wain
Cast: Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ben Wang, Sabrina Impacciatore, Joe Lp Truglio, Mather Zickel, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Tobie Windham, Matthew Cwern, Fred Melamed, Michael Cassidy, Richard Kind, Thomas Lennon, Zac Oyama
The Nerds Templar 