Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

For master of American humour David Wain, creator of some of the most enduring comedies of the 21st Century (Wet Hot American Summer, They Came Together), stupidity is the highest form of sophistication. Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass continues that grand tradition, following small-towner Gail (Zoey Deutch), whose blissful engagement crashes down when her high school sweetheart sleeps with his ‘celebrity sex pass’, prompting Gail to travel to LA to do the same. Her chosen celebrity: Mad Men star Jon Hamm. Along the way, Gail amasses a merry troupe of Wizard of Oz-like followers, each with a Hamm-bone to pick, including one-time co-star John Slattery (in a hilariously self-deprecating turn).

Irreverent and light-as-a-feather from start to finish, Gail Daughtry follows in the footsteps of last year’s Naked Gun reboot, nobly attempting to extract as many laughs from its audience as possible within a short frame of time. Along the way, Wain captures an LA of tacky surfaces and maps to the stars, and there’s just a dash of the eeriness David Lynch brought to Mulholland Drive, for those who look closely.

– Tom Augustine