David Wain’s not particularly well known on this side of the pond, which feels quite appalling as the man’s responsible for some of the funniest tv and movie comedy of the last thirty years. Alas that doesn’t seem likely to change either as Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass wasn’t a success in the US, but it deserved to be as while not up there with his best efforts there’s an awful lot of very funny moments in the film.
Like Wain’s most successful work (the tv series The State, Stella and Children’s Hospital, and the films Wet Hot American Summer and They Came Together) this doesn’t take itself seriously from the get go. We’re immediately introduced to an absurd world as snarky mailman Fred Melamed begins narrating the story, but is soon chastising the audience and wandering way off topic. Soon after the main plot is set up with impressive speed, before spinning out of control, and I really don’t want to give away too much as a great deal of the fun is seeing how this unpredictable silliness plays out. But the very basic set up is that perfect small town couple Gail and Tom are about to get married, and everything about their lives is just wonderful, until a jokey conversation about the one celebrity they could sleep with without it threatening their relationship inevitably causes chaos.
Wain regulars such as Michael Ian Black, Joe Lo Truglio, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon and a good few other well known faces turn up to make sure even the lesser seen characters are memorable, it’s almost slightly wasteful of some, though that might be just because whenever I see Richard Kind in a movie I want him to be the main character. Lead actress Zoey Deutch will hopefully join this troupe as well, as she shows off just how impressive her comedy chops are every chance she’s given, while co-writer Ken Marino once again creates an extrememly memorable character.
There is the occasional misfire, or a joke which doesn’t quite land, and so this isn’t up there with Wain’s very best work. It’s a close run thing though, and hopefully like Wet Hot American Summer it’ll become a cult hit over time, as anyone with a fondness for joyfully daft comedy will enjoy the delightful idiocy on display here.
Sarah Stringer