Small town hairdresser Gail Daughtry (Zoey Deutch) and Tom Soursap McNoodleman (Michael Cassidy) were highschool sweethearts who are now engaged to be married. They both grew up in Willowbrook, Kansas and have never really even ventured out of the state. They are devoted to each other and would never even think of cheating on one another. So when the topic of a “Celebrity Sex Pass” comes up at the hair salon, and they both agree to it, Gail doesn’t really take it seriously. However, when the couple visits a local book store for a book signing, Tom ends up meeting his pass, and takes full advantage of the offer. When Gail catches them in the act, she is livid and wants to call off the wedding. Gail’s best friend/co-worker Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) is headed to Hollywood for the weekend for the West Coast Hairstyling Expo, and convinces her to come along, insisting that if she wants to repair her relationship with Tom and “even the scales”, she must have sex with her own celebrity pass, Jon Hamm, and where better to do that, than Hollywood, where the streets are paved in gold.

And so they begin their wild journey to find Jon Hamm, to get him to grant her this wish. Along the way, Gail and Otto meet three other individuals who are also looking for something from Jon Hamm, who ultimately join her on this adventure. Her new companions include former CAA Agent-in-Training Caleb (Ben Wang) who needs a job, paparazzi photographer Vincent (Ken Marino) who has been trying to get a photo of his white whale Jon Hamm for over a decade, and finally Jon’s washed-up Mad Men co-star John Slattery who needs validation. Meanwhile, when Gail and Otto first arrived at the airport, Gail accidentally swapped briefcases with a mobster named Marco (Matthew Jayson Cwern). The case contained some important information his wicked boss Ludovica (Sabrina Impacciatore) needs. And so now two more of her bumbling minions, Sergio (Joe Lo Truglio) & Niccolo (Mather Zickel), have set out to find Gail, eliminate her, and get the case back.

Providing narration and and commentary throughout the film is Gail’s mailman Frank (Fred Melamed). There are also so many other recognizable character actors/comedians who pop up throughout the film, including Richard Kind as a Taxi Driver, Michael Ian Black as a map to the stars’ homes salesman, Kerri Kenney as a psychic, and Thomas Lennon as rock star hairstylist Remy Fontaine, plus cameos from many folks playing themselves, including ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Penn Jillette, Marguerite Moreau, Elizabeth Perkins, Jennifer Anniston, Henry Winkler, Paul Rudd and more.

I first saw Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass in the theater as one of those mystery Screen Unseen movies at AMC. I had no idea what I was in for, and was pleasantly surprised, though it took way longer than it should have for me to realize that this was an extremely clever parody of The Wizard of Oz. Gail Daughtry (a play on “Dorothy Gale”) is from Kansas, and the tornado that sets things in motion is her fiancé’s cheating. Then she travels to this mystical world of Hollywood with her loyal companion Otto (an anagram of “Toto”), where she meets the equivalent of the scarecrow (Caleb), the tin man (Vincent) and the cowardly lion (John Slattery) while she tries to get something for/from the wizard (Jon Hamm), all while being hunted by the wicked witch (Ludovica) and her flying monkeys (the mobster minions). The film is written by director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models, Childrens Hospital) and star Ken Marino, and it features all of the wild and outrageous humor and witty writing you would expect from one of their projects. There are so many inappropriate, laugh out loud moments, and ridiculous things happening that are played completely straight. The cast is great and play well off one another. There are also lots of actors playing hilarious, heightened versions of themselves. It feels like some of the dialogue may have been improvised—there is this fun moment when Sergio is outside the Chinese Theater looking for Gail and someone in the crowd refers to him as “Boyle” (Joe Lo Truglio’s character from Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and without missing a beat, Sergio admits that he gets mistaken for him a lot. Overall, the film is a fun, wild adventure that should keep audiences laughing and entertained.

Sony Pictures has released Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass on Blu-ray and Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review from AV Entertainment. The single disc is placed in a standard-sized Blu-ray keepcase. There is no digital copy included, and our review copy did not include a slipcover. The technical presentation of the film is generally quite good, with a solid, clean, detailed picture. Dialogue is clear throughout, and the stereo and surround channels are well-utilized to provide an immersive ambiance and feel. Unfortunately the disc is pretty much barebones, just including the film’s trailer.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:33:44)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Descriptive Service
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer (2:07)

Final Thoughts:

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is a really fun parody of The Wizard of Oz, taking viewers on this hilarious journey of a revenge to the magical world of Hollywood. The film has a wonderful cast and features so many other great cameos and guest stars. Sony’s Blu-ray looks and sounds great but is unfortunately barebones when it comes to bonus material. I would have loved to have seen some behind-the-scenes material or got a commentary, but it’s nice to at least see this unique gem get a physical disc release for fans to own.