Forget “Nouvelle Vague” (2025). Zoey Deutch’s best movie is “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” (2026), the best comedy of 2026 to date. Two weeks before the wedding, Gail’s fiancé, Tom Soursap McNoodleman (Michael Cassidy, who resembles Paul Rudd, which is an important detail), uses his celebrity sex pass, which throws Gail (Deutch) for a loop. She leaves Kansas for Los Angeles with her best friend, Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), to attend the West Coast Hairstyling expo featuring Remy Fontaine (Thomas Lennon), the King of the Whip Curl, before they switch gears to pursue the solution to all her problems: have sex with Jon Hamm. Whatever you are expecting is not as absurd, exaggerated, random and ridiculous as what you will get. The trailer does not show the best jokes. It is stupid funny, but if it is not your style of humor, you may just think it is stupid. It is best to see it in a crowded theater for optimal conditions. Stay for the post credits scene!
Deutch is often a better actor than the material (looking at you, “The Threesome”); is amazing but could use a ton more screen time (the aforementioned “Nouvelle Vague”) or does not get a substantial enough part (“Juror #2,” “Anniversary”). Comedy is hard, but Deutch makes it look easy as she plays Gail with wide-eyed openness and an undercurrent of contemporary sensibilities. She infuses an excellent sweet and sour tone into the entire movie. It is a hard role to play because considering how people use double standards to judge women, Gail could have been dead on arrival, but Deutch makes her endearing and has great chemistry with the entire cast, which includes a ton of actors playing themselves (‘Weird Al’ Yankovic) or in unexpected cameos as regular characters (Fred Melamed as the narrator, Frank the Mailman, who feels as if he is making fun of “Ella McCay”).
Four men help her on her quest. While Otto could have been the stereotypical gay best friend, instead he is the groundbreaking bi best friend who happens to mostly sleep with guys. Gutierrez-Riley gets some unexpected, left-field lines that pack a side-splitting punch. Shoutout to costume designer Bryn Carter for some unique, eye-catching wardrobe choices, which includes a jacket that looks as if the Outlook Hotel’s carpet inspired its pattern. Caleb (Ben Wang), an aspiring agent, gets fired for trying to help, but then tags along for the ride to use his smooth-talking skills to help Gail with her quest. Wang has been proving what a versatile actor he is in different genres in the last two years: action with “Karate Kid: Legends” (2025), horror with “The Long Walk” (2025) and now comedy. Vincent (cowriter Ken Marino, “Bad Milo,” “Agent Carter”) is a photographer who is working on his temper and decides to help them because Hamm is his white whale. Marino is a reliable comedy staple and a delight. Last, but not least, John Slattery plays a fictional version of himself as someone who has not had a job in ten years and spends his free time fighting. Plus, he leans heavy on his Boston accent, which makes the performance even better. It may sound overstuffed, but everyone gets time to shine and play nicely together. Once Hamm’s security guard, Terrence (Tobie Windham), gets added to the mix, it makes everything even better. Hamm is a good sport and brings it in for a nice landing.
There is an added complication to “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.” Gangsters, Marco (Matthew Jason Cwern), Sergio (Joe Lo Truglio) and Niccolo (Mather Zickel), are trying to find Gail and retrieve their property from her, which they accidentally gave to her. Their no-nonsense boss, Ludovica (Sabrina Impacciatore), makes it clear that it is either Gail or them. Lo Truglio and Zickel have a brilliant improv moment with the general public who at least act as if they do not know that they are part of the movie (think “Candid Camera”). For instance, someone tells Sergio that he looks like one of Lo Truglio’s most famous roles. Impacciatore also gets a silly moment or two in a role that could have been as disastrous as “Mafia Mamma” (2023), but she strikes the right balance between violent and silly plus she is excellent at taking a fake punch.
If it does not sound as if all these threads will come together to make a nice tapestry, you would be wrong. “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” is the kind of movie that you are going to want to watch immediately after it is done, and let’s hope that Marino and cowriter and director David Wain get to continue to work together on even more projects. Apparently in 1987, they met at the NYU Tisch theater program and professionally started working together in “The State,” a MTV sketch troupe which featured many actors who appear in this movie. Sometimes long-term collaborations run out of steam over time, but these two are still going strong. While one bit may not be popular with everyone, unlike “Saturday Night Live,” which often features a bit that is not funny then keeps it going until it is still not funny, somehow, they start funny, make its audience ask how long it is going to keep going, then unexpectedly takes it up a notch. For example, when Terrence keeps slamming the door on John’s foot, it somehow goes up an octave, keeps going then becomes a running joke late in the story just when you should begin to forget it, but it still works.
Visually even in the transitions, Wain is over the top with the cloudless, rainbow in the sky suburbs, the clearly dated archived footage of traffic in Los Angeles or an airport that looks and sounds like anything but LAX. He depicts an ideal, exotic day on the town for tourists with an earnest concierge advising them about the artisanal sites around town then depicts Gail and Otto engaging in the suggested activities as if the suggestions were as amazing as described. You must see it to appreciate it, but without spoiling the punchline, let’s say that the close up of a map holds the key in the shape of a funny bone.
Every review is going to reference “The Wizard of Oz” homage but “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” reminds me of an Eighties Savage Steve Holland film like “Better Off Dead” (1985) or “One Crazy Summer” (1986) combined with the vibe of a spoof comedy without the point of trying to make fun of specific movies currently in the Zeitgeist. There is something magical about going to a theater, and mostly everyone laughing at the stupidity. At home with all the distractions and without the big screen, you are bound to miss something brilliantly dumb happening on the edges of the scene. It just will not be as fun. Comedies are communal experiences that belong in the theater, not at home streaming.
