Rarer than the Loch Ness monster, but every bit as friendly and welcome, this week marks a treasurable sighting of a rare beast; the breezy, modern comedy. Not attempting to set up a multi-film cinematic universe, nor lecture us on specious morality via virtue signalling to the masses, Jessica Yu’s film aims to do little more than provide 99 minutes of merriment, and the result gets a firm recommend on this basis. It helps that Quiz Lady has got two very funny women front and centre; Sandra Oh has re-invented herself via Killing Eve and plays an Ab Fab-type who dreams of making it as an actress/singer/life-coach/whatever she thinks of that morning. And Awkwafina plays her sister, a quiet accountant who has a secret super-power; she’s got a very good grasp of general knowledge.
Developed at Netflix, but screening on Hulu in the US and Disney + in the UK, Quiz Lady is agreeably route-one fare; Anne Yum (Awkwafina) sits at home every night with her aging dog, methodically cycling through the correct answers on her favourite game-show Can’t Stop the Quiz, hosted by the jovial Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell); she’s got a real talent, but is afraid to use it. Her older sister Jenny (Sandra Oh) thinks Anne should compete, and there’s a pile-up of motivations, from paying off their mother’s debts to rescuing their kidnapped dog, so Jenny slams Anne in the boot of their car and sends them off on a journey that might lead to fame and fortune, but also might not……
Quiz Lady could take place in the same world as Bridesmaids; it’s got a warm and fuzzy centre, even if the gags are tart and up-to-speed for 2023. A viral video leads to Anne getting plagued with calls from a prospective ‘sexual cannibal’, while listening to Jenny rhyming off meaningless motivational jargon makes Anne respond dryly ‘I hate all the words you just used.’ The great Holland Taylor has a funny supporting role as a clueless neighbour who might be able to help Anne deal with the charades round of the competition; in the meantime she’s got her own social anxieties about ‘the paperboy vaping drugs’ to contend with. She’s also suffering from an on-going confusion between Alan Cumming and Pee-Wee Herman that leads to a poignant cameo from the recently departed actor.
Quiz Lady sticks tightly to its own rules as Anne competes against stuck-up champion Ron Heacock (Jason Schwartzman) and her friendship with her sister enables her to overcome the odds; there’s no melodrama, just a sweet success. And the same should be said for Quiz Lady, with a sharp Jen D’Angelo script and two winning performers in Oh and Awkwafina. ‘Men don’t like it when women do things badly, muses Anne, ‘but then they don’t like it when women do things well. ‘ But everyone likes it when women are funny, and Oh, Awkwafina, D’Angelo and Yu generate the big laughs in Quiz Lady that an upbeat, undemanding comedy requires. With Hulu getting absorbed into Disney+, hopefully there’ll be more from the Yum sisters planned for further down the line….
I probably won’t watch this due to Awkwafina’s inclusion. As odd as it is, I just don’t like her stage name. “Awkwafina” sounds like something somebody barfed up on the backseat of a car after an all night kegger. It’s irrational on my part, I know, but I can’t get past it. I see her name in a film and bam, I just don’t like the film…
You are a silly person then.
…is NOT the correct answer. You go straight to jail, do not pass GO, do not collect 200.
Booky Trebek has spoken, thus it shall be…
I’ll take Things Not Happening for 200, Alex.
That’s Booky Trebek to you, buster.
~tweet~
Chartreuse card for insulting the game host and hurting his delicate feelings…
I’ll take Red Card for Booky for 100, Alex.
~tweet~
~tweeeeeet~
~tweeeeeeeeeeeet~
~tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet~
keels over from lack of oxygen
Straight red! No match for Connery!
Yeah, that guy had a real set of lungs on him. I bet he could have keep on ~tweeeeting~ for another 5min easy…
Of course, Mish Moneypenny, hahahaha!
hahahahahhahaa.
Ok, you win the Connery Impersonation Contest hands down…
The version in SNL is pretty much how I see things.
I have never seen that show, so I’ll take your word for it.
Oh nope.
Oh, well, you’ll always have cattle mutilation to keep your smiling….
Ah. I changed my mind on that, even though it’s. Good Cage performance, cattle mutilation is a bit beyond me.
Maybe mutilation isn’t the right word, they are stripping them for meat and pelts if that helps?
How much of the movie does that take up?
A lot.
Then I’ll stick with the change of mind, thanks.
Maybe. Haven’t seen Awkwafina in something good aside from her appearance on Between Two Ferns. Got a smile out of the last joke in the trailer.
I’m not sure I’ve seen her better than this, too many animation voice overs, but this is pretty old-school comedy duo stuff, and even a old crotchet like you might crack a smile…
It’s a tough ask. Surprised Ferrell didn’t keep his Alex Trbek moustache.
I can see that being an inspiration here, although I see myself more as Sean Connery in that particular quiz-show permutation.
Burt Reynolds myself.
This could be our Christmas special. Booky as Trebek?
I’ll take “Who looks good in a mustache” for 200, Alex…
Do you have one?
An Alex, or a Mustache?
Either
I HAD a mustache. Until it grew up into a beard 😀
Where do you keep it?
In a little cage I built especially for it.
Then it is not a mustache, it is a rodent that lives under your nose faCt!
I named him Fievel….
Has he Gone West?
I’m sending him to Canada to infiltrate a certain Syrup Smuggler’s group…
That sounds like a real American Tail.
I’m thinking of making a Ratbo movie. Where an overly muscled little mouse goes to Canada to put the kabosh on syrup smugglers and make syrup free for all good Americans…
Maybe you could pitch it to Awkwafina ?
Are you saying she’s a rat?
Because I’d lob it her way if that was the case.
I’m saying you have a rat pretending to be a moustache.
Pretend, nothing. It’s a grown up beard…
Like Santa Clause…
Is not a real person. And clearly neither are you. Your rat beard demonstrates that.
Then who’s been giving me presents all these years? Some weirdo stalker?
Waaaaaaaaaait a second…..
YOU ARE SANTA CLAWS AND ARE TRYING TO HIDE IT!
Ha. I have found you out…
Sigh. I am not your Santa. There is no Santa. Your moustache is a living rat. These are facTs!
Close your eyes all you want, but Santa is real. Scyenze pruves it. You Santadenier you.
Fievel thanks you for your spirited defense of his existence…