In the world of this comedy, however, celebrities are willing to doff their drawers for strangers at the drop of a hat. That is, when they’re not shooting at them with automatic weapons. “Celebrity Sex Pass” alternates between absurdist humor and some fairly grisly violence, often in the same scene. One character is saved when a bullet fired at his face bounces off the steel plate in his head and blows his assassin’s brains out. I laughed out loud for the first and only time during this movie, but you already know I’m a sicko.
Gail Daughtry (“Nouvelle Vague”’s Zoey Deutch) is a hairdresser on a quest to have sex with Jon Hamm, a.k.a. Don Draper from “Mad Men.” It’s a journey she’s undertaking because, two weeks before their wedding, her dimwitted fiancé, Tom (Michael Cassidy), cashed in his celebrity pass by having sex with Rachel from “Friends” in the back of a bookstore. Jennifer Aniston’s cameo also features a dramatic reading of a recipe from her new cookbook, which gives you an idea of the kind of humor we’re dealing with here.
The film is narrated by Frank the Mailman (Fred Melamed). He delivers the mail in Willowbrook, Kan., a little town that looks imported from Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie Hell. Despite being dressed in uniform and rolling a gigantic mailbag, Frank spends 90 seconds on a gag that assumes we don’t know what a mailman looks like. Beating a joke into the ground is a David Wain trademark, and there’s plenty of ground to be covered in “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”
To help her get her hands on Hamm, Gail’s hairdresser colleague Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) invites her to a beautician conference in Hollywood. At LAX, a Henry Winkler sighting gets her suitcase mixed up with a case owned by hit man Sergio (LoTruglio). Gail’s case has hairstyling products; Sergio’s case has the secret plans for world domination coveted by his violent, Italian-accented boss, Ludovica (Sabrina Impacciatore). After gorily dispatching Sergio’s partner, she sends Sergio on a mission to retrieve the correct luggage.
Meanwhile, a few small chuckles are earned as Otto and Gail navigate Hollywood for the first time. Their hotel concierge sends them to tourist attractions like McDonald’s, Starbucks, 7-Eleven, and a Foot Locker where gay sexual favors can be procured in an alley in the back of the store. I walked past that Foot Locker on Hollywood and Highland en route to my hotel many times during this year’s TCM Film Festival, and I don’t recall seeing that alley. It’s probably for the best.
Assisting Gail and Otto are a paparazzo with anger management problems played by Ken Marino, and a soon-to-be-former CAA intern named Caleb (Ben Wang). His company’s name is always accompanied by a choir on the soundtrack. Also on hand is John Slattery, Hamm’s “Mad Man” costar. He plays a has-been version of himself living in squalor, and is good for a few mild chuckles.
“Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” will only work if you’re able to get on its zany wavelength. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to do so. However, Deutch is so committed to her earnest character that she keeps the movie afloat even while beating someone to death with her bare hands. Her eventual meeting with Hamm shows the actor is capable of mocking his own image. If only his scenes were remotely funny. Instead, they’re anti-climactic, which is the worst thing you could ask for in a sex pass.
★★
GAIL DAUGHTRY AND THE CELEBRITY SEX PASS
Directed by David Wain. Written by Wain and Ken Marino. Starring Zoey Deutch, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, John Slattery, Ben Wang, Joe LoTruglio, Sabrina Impacciatore, Jon Hamm, Michael Cassidy, Jennifer Aniston, Richard Kind, Weird Al Yankovic. At Coolidge Corner, AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, Dedham Community Theatre. 99 minutes. R (see the penultimate word in the title)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.
