REEL | Zoey Deutch Cashes in 'Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass'

"Why don't we keep it loose and freaky?"

Sony Pictures Classics / Mongrel Media

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is comedian David Wain's wild, throwback sex comedy told as a contemporary Hollywood riff on The Wizard of Oz formula. When Zoey Deutch's small-town Dorothy Gale sound-a-like title character finds out her fiancé has cashed in his "celebrity sex pass" to sleep with Jennifer Aniston, she sets out on an adventure collecting sidekicks, including Mad Men co-star John Slattery playing a comically sad sack, loser version of himself, along the way to meeting and hopefully having sex with her own free pass, one mister Jon Hamm, standing in for the Wizard.

Somewhere in Kansas that looks suspiciously like a studio backlot, Gail starts her journey to sunny Los Angeles before encountering her own ensemble versions of the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, with Ken Marino (also co-writer/producer), Caleb Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ben Wang, and a host of celebrity cameos showing up to make fun of show business. Like Wain's hysterical other genre riff, the rom-com parody They Came Together, the film commits wholeheartedly to the bit by playing it seriously and sincerely without any real irony. Even Sabrina Impacciatore's silly Italian gangster character is used to mock stock character archetypes and typical movie villain motivations.

Everything about Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass sets up its comedic hijinks dryly and hilariously in the consistent style and tone of the influential and collaborative The State alternative comedy troupe most known for Wet Hot American Summer, of which both Wain and Marino, and many other members who show up here, are known for. It lovingly mocks the City of Angels (not just a location but a "character" in the movie!) through its wide-eyed characters, showbiz setting, and general moviemaking premise.


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