Sex Pass a Tinseltown parody
Like many couples, my wife and I have an understanding. If, on the off chance, the actor Miles Teller, in all of his hunkiness, showed up on our doorstep, rang the bell and stated it was time for he and Beth to embark on their once-in-a-lifetime romance, I’m to, without hesitation and no hard feelings, let her leave. Though we love each other, who am I to stand in the way of her living out this fairy tale love affair … or one-night stand, whatever the case may be? And, really, this is an easy thing to agree to. Miles Teller, coming to Farmer City? Never gonna happen!
(In the interest of full disclosure, were the same scenario to play out and Kate Winslet were to show up asking for my hand, Beth is to let me go, without question. Of course, Ms. Winslet will never grace Farmer City with her presence either, however I’m in Hollywood a couple times each year, so …)
Like saying what you’d do if you won the lottery, playing the Celebrity Sex Pass game is a harmless bit of fantasy, meant to elicit gentle laughs of disbelief and perhaps provide a surprising revelation or two among friends. However, in David Wain’s whimsical and ribald Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, this harmless game becomes a reality for two soon-to-be-marrieds, the circumstances forcing them to reevaluate their relationship.
Relayed as a fantasy by Frank (Fred Melamed), the all-knowing and rather bitter postman of the small Kansas town where the story begins, the film takes a massive swipe at the Hollywood machine, the illusionary nature of stardom and celebrity entitlement. Employing a broad approach in its humor, the gags are hit and miss, yet the enthusiasm and abandon with which the game cast approaches this parody trumps many of its faults.
Gail (Zoey Deutch) is naïve as a June day is long and loves working at a local salon with her fellow stylist, Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley). She’s to be married in two weeks to her equally innocent, longtime boyfriend Tom (Michael Cassidy) and there’s nothing on the horizon that can ruin her happiness. However, fate has other plans for her, as the couple decides to attend a book signing by a major movie star who just happens to be in town. She also happens to be Tom’s celebrity sex pass. One thing leads to another and before you know it, he’s lived out his fantasy, reasoning Gail wouldn’t be upset because, well, it’s understood.
Needless to say, that is not the case. Convinced by Otto to get payback by taking advantage of her celebrity pass, he and Gail set out to Hollywood so that she can sleep with Jon Hamm. However, it’s not a straight path to the actor’s door and along the way, they’re joined by three lost souls, each in search of validation of their own. Caleb (Ben Wang) longs to be an agent, Vincent (Ken Marino) is a photographer yearning for redemption and John Slattery hopes to rebuild his dwindled sense of fame.
Once the group meets Hamm and he sends them on an impossible quest, it becomes evident Wain is riffing on The Wizard of Oz. Clues are provided along the way and in retrospect they become evident. And from this point on, the allusions to the 1939 classic become all the more obvious. Hamm, having a great time lampooning himself, proves to be a charlatan, yet is able to point out that Caleb, Vincent and Slattery already possess the qualities they seek. As to how he deals with Gail’s wish, the last scene is inspired.
Wain hasn’t invented a gag he can’t milk dry, which works to the movie’s detriment at times. But to his credit, his brisk pacing doesn’t allow the viewer to dwell on a misguided joke too long, as he effortlessly glides from one scene to the next. As stated, the cast is game for anything which goes a long way towards making the outlandish humor work. All have their moments, but I would be remiss if I did not mention Sabrina Impacciatore, a wannabe power broker who longs to get her hands on a satchel containing government secrets Gail has accidentally taken. The actress rends the scenery with aplomb, her heavily-accented, impossible to understand line-readings generating laughs at every turn.
Whether fans of Oz will embrace this feature or brush it aside as a tawdry take on the classic, I cannot say. And, as with all comedies, every viewer’s mileage will vary regarding its humor. If nothing else, Gail makes a distinctive mark, providing a brand of silly, adult humor that’s been absent from multiplexes for far too long. In Theaters.
Ladies upends workplace dynamics
The issue of gender inequality gets a Dickensian twist in Thea Sharrock’s Ladies First, a clever, timely satire that turns the workplace dynamic on its head. Driven by a veteran cast, the film takes a page from “A Christmas Carol” by providing its main character with a glimpse of an alternate reality, an experience that leads to an overdue reformation. Pithy and smart, the sincerity of the movie’s message isn’t obscured by the bawdy humor but rather bolstered by it, its many gags effectively underscoring the ridiculous nature of its theme.
Damien Sachs (Sacha Baron Cohen) isn’t just living his best life, he’s living every man’s best life. A high-ranking executive at the Atlas Agency, an English advertising firm, he waltzes through life, oblivious to his chauvinistic behavior. And why shouldn’t he? No one has called him out on his behavior and his success only justifies his actions. However, that’s about to change in the most unexpected way.
Suffering a mild concussion after walking briskly into a street sign, Sachs wakes up to a world he doesn’t recognize. Seems women are now the dominant sex. Holding positions of importance and power across the spectrum, all media is geared toward objectifying men and bolstering female superiority. The Catholic Church is led by Pope Beatrice, “Donna Quixote” is a well-known classic and the slogan “My Sperm, My Choice” is a rallying cry for male reproductive rights.
However, what concerns Sachs most is the state of affairs at Atlas. His office and position are now occupied by Alex Fox (Rosamund Pike), a creative director who was promoted in an effort to quell charges of sexism in his timeline. Sachs finds things have been turned upside down as he’s ignored and ridiculed at every turn, treatment he exhibited toward Fox without a second thought.
It’s a simple premise but effective nonetheless. To be sure, there’s some low-hanging comedic fruit plucked along the way – the mother walks her son down the aisle – as the suddenly weaker sex, Sachs is made a cat owner – however screenwriters Natalie Krinsky, Cinco Paul and Katie Silberman aren’t afraid to tackle the most extreme examples of sexism in an effort to shed light on the damage caused by these actions. A makeover Sachs undergoes is painful and humiliating, while an incident of sexual harassment in which he’s forced to perform for his insensitive CEO (Fiona Shaw) proves to be more uncomfortable than funny, a shift in tone that effectively drives home the humiliating nature of this act.
Known for his extreme characterizations and outsized performances, Baron Cohen has always been a polarizing performer. That he’s able to convey vulnerability and empathy here after Sachs learns his lesson is refreshing, the actor surprisingly as effective in scenes of introspection as well as the comedic. Pike is in her element, giving a broadly humorous performance as the boorish female chauvinist. It’s obvious she’s deriving great glee in sporting the shoe on the other foot. In addition to Shaw, veteran actors Charles Dance, Richard E. Grant, Kathryn Hunter and Emily Mortimer appear in supporting roles, each bringing more to the parts than they deserve.
While the film won’t lead to any further cracks being made in the glass ceiling, it proves to be a surprisingly effective commentary on a continuing social problem. And while some steps have been taken to rectify the disparity between the sexes in the job market, Ladies reminds us that many more changes need to be made to level the playing field. Streaming on Netflix.
No cure for illogical Nurse
While watching Georgia Bernstein’s overstuffed and underdone Night Nurse, I couldn’t help but think of the Manhattan skyscraper that began to collapse in on itself earlier this week. Much like that flawed structure, this film has more artifice than its flimsy foundation can support. Teeming with intriguing ideas and potentially fascinating characters, Bernstein emphasizes style over substance to the movie’s detriment.
Taking place in an extremely liberal and open retirement community, fresh off the tree nurse Eleni (Cemre Paksoy) comes looking for a job. Obviously, she’s never seen a horror film as phrases that should send her running into the night – “We’ve had a lot of turn over,” and “I have a good feeling about you,” for instance – go right over her head. She’s hired on the spot and assigned to care for Douglas (Bruce McKenzie), suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s … or so he claims.
While Douglas has the staff of doctors buffaloed, it doesn’t take long for him to reveal his true nature to Eleni. He enlists her in a phone scam in which they call other residents known to have money and she pretends to be their granddaughter. Claiming to have been arrested and in need of immediate bail money, the well-meaning marks cough up thousands in cash in a heartbeat. Soon, Douglas, Eleni and fellow nurse Mona (Eleonore Hendricks) are rolling in the green.
While this is a straight-forward premise, Bernstein introduces psychological and sexual elements into the mix that go nowhere. Just why Eleni and the rest of the nurses fall under Douglas’ sway is never explained. Average looking, without money and only mildly charismatic, just why these young women are at his beck and call remains a mystery.
The lengths Eleni ultimately goes to in order to curry his favor defies logic. Knowing nothing of her past, just why she falls victim to the abusive power dynamic Douglas employs is a mystery. That the phone calls they make come to excite her sexually comes out of nowhere as well. Was she abused as a child? Just what was her relationship with her father? From where does her neediness stem? A bit of information regarding her background would have gone a long way towards grounding the movie.
I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed but I’m not such a dullard that I need everything spelled out for me. However, there has to be a basis for why characters do what they do and Bernstein opts for ambiguity (laziness?) rather than providing basic motivation for her characters’ actions. It’s a fatal error that drives the film into the realm of the ridiculous rather than creating mystery.
Bernstein’s snail-like pacing doesn’t help matters. Allowing scenes to run too long and having far too many moments that don’t move the story along only invites closer scrutiny of a script’s flaws. Forty-five minutes in, my list of lapses in logic and structural flaws was as long as my arm.
Once Bernstein mercifully gets us to the finale, the movie has completely jumped the tracks. Just why and how the two principals have arrived at their final destination and why they have another nurse in tow is beyond me. Nurse is yet another feature that calls to mind the tale of the emperor’s new clothes. Bernstein may have convinced some her film is high art, but the fact is, it’s a pretentious, empty piece of work. In Theaters.
This article appears in July 9-15, 2026.
