If the title didn’t clue you in to what Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is about, the film wastes no time, using one of its earliest scenes to explain exactly what a celebrity sex pass is (a free pass to have sex with a pre-selected celebrity if the opportunity presents itself) while also delivering overly specific, dialogue-heavy exposition. But fans of director and co-writer David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) won’t be surprised by this seemingly corny storytelling. Wain is no stranger to dry, absurdist comedy that walks so close to cheesy tropes it’s sure to divide audiences.
The film is conveniently (although unnecessarily—in a way that can only be post-Netflix’s requirement of restating plot points to account for viewers multitasking) narrated by local mailman Frank (Fred Melamed), who introduces the audience to Gail (Zoey Deutch), a doe-eyed hairdresser who has never been outside her small Kansas town. Mere minutes after discussing the celebrity sex pass with her fiancé, Tom Soursap McNoodleman (Michael Cassidy), Tom is conveniently presented with the opportunity to hook up with Jennifer Aniston (playing herself) in the backroom of a bookstore. Convinced by a psychic that she needs to even the score if she’s going to go through with her wedding, Gail sets off alongside her best friend Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) to find and subsequently sleep with her celebrity pass, John Hamm.
The whole film is far more absurd than that summary sounds. It’s probably better described as a raunchy, bloody modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz (complete with red bedazzled shoes and Gail announcing, “Wow, we are not in Kansas anymore,” upon landing at LAX). Despite the overly convenient plot points, excessive dialogue-heavy exposition and insane premise, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is one of the best girls’ night rom-coms of the year. It’s not a film that’s trying to be an excellent piece of cinema. It exists to make you laugh and it does a great job at that.
Wain has put together an excellent ensemble cast, primarily carried by Deutch and Gutierrez-Riley, who are supported by a woefully inept aspiring agent (Ben Wang), a washed-up paparazzo (Ken Marino, who cowrote the script) hoping to get his ‘white whale,’ a picture of Hamm) and even Hamm’s Mad Men co-star, John Slattery, playing a down-on-his-luck version of himself hoping to reconnect with his now much more popular co-star. These five form the core team looking for Hamm, and their chaotic, dysfunctional relationships are the heart of this film.
As I said before, this film is sure to divide audiences. Wain’s humor is most definitely not everyone’s cup of tea (and this writer, unfortunately, falls in that category). The whole film makes fun of other films by essentially being a really bad one. But when viewed as an absurdist rom-com that doesn’t take itself seriously, it can be the perfect complement to a night in with friends.
