Shadows on the Wall | Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

dir David Wain
scr Ken Marino, David Wain
prd Anthony Bregman, Peter Cron, Ken Marino, David Wain
with Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ben Wang, Sabrina Impacciatore, Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Cassidy, Jennifer Aniston, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Perkins
release US 10.Jul.26,
UK 4.Sep.26
26/US 1h34

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wang, marino, deutch, slattery and gutierrez-riley

Bright and colourful, and exploding with cheeky energy, this pastiche comedy plays with the idea that rules don't apply when celebrities are involved. So it's probably no surprise that it's full to bursting with stars who are making fun of themselves and their industry, plus constant nods to classic movies. The plot is flatly ridiculous, and it's played in the broadest way imaginable. But underlying ideas still grab hold.

In small-town Kansas, hairstylist Gail (Deutch) has the perfect life with fiance Tom (Cassidy). After best friend Otto (Gutierrez-Riley) ask her to name her celebrity pass, she's shocked when Tom actually uses his. So when Gail travels with Otto to a Hollywood hairdressing conference, maybe she can even the score and restore things with Tom if she finds her pass, Jon Hamm. She gets help from aspiring agent Caleb (Wang) and jaded paparazzo Vincent (Marino) to find John Slattery. But a mobster's (Impacciatore) goon (Lo Truglio) is chasing Gail after their cases were accidentally swapped.

A cascading barrage of cameos fills the screen, with big stars as versions of themselves or in witty side roles. The way the plot plays out is resolutely absurd, but it's enjoyable enough to watch as events spiral out of control. At its core, this is a reminder that the movie business is thoroughly artificial, especially because it relies on the power that fame can wield. But mainly this genre mashup is just a smart bit of goofiness designed to make us smile.

Performances are rather cartoonish across the board, with an enjoyably plucky turn from Deutch. The naive Gail powers unflappably through a series of mind-bogglingly insane scenarios, revealing some rather edgy things lurking under Gail's sweet persona. Gutierrez-Riley, Wang and Marino are able to add their own extra layers to her partners in crime. And while the always up-for-it Hamm dives in with his usual hilarious gusto, Slattery gets to be the scene-stealer this time, delivering a riotous lampoon of himself.

Frankly, the thriller subplot gets completely overwrought along the way, stealing the focus from the movie's far more engaging central narrative. But as a spoof, the movie is consistently funny, even when it falls back on tired exaggerated-violence comedy beats. But it's a clever touch that the climactic action sequence is on an abandoned film set. And where it ends up is both stupid and almost overpoweringly bonkers. With some fabulous laugh-out-loud twists.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 18.Aug.26

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

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