We all know someone who would be great at one of those money-winning shows- but never gets the gumption to go and win the actual money. Yessica Yu’s “Quiz Lady” is about someone just like that, Anne Yum (played by Awkwafina). Anne grew up watching a “Jeopardy”-like show called “Can’t Stop the Quiz,” which offered her an escape from a turbulent home life. Rules, repetition, routine: they sound dreadful unless they offer order, a comfort the real world seldom does.
Now a mildly functional adult, Anne is forced to babysit her much older sister, Yenny, played by Sandra Oh (“Sideways,” “Grey’s Anatomy”). (We’ll get back to Oh, because she made the movie happen for me). Through a series of contrivances, Anne’s pug, Linguini, gets kidnapped. Then she becomes a viral “celebrity” (the saddest, most transient kind of “celebrity”). Then she is invited to CSTQ! where she can showcase her skills and meet the Alex Trebek-like host who has served as a substitute father (Will Ferrell, a little too comfortable in a role he already played on SNL). Standing in Anne’s way is her nemesis, the ridiculously named Ron Heacock (Jason Schwarztman). Heacock is a long-time CSTQ! contestant who’s practically throbbing with smarminess. (We’re meant to boo at him because he has both “He” and “cock” in his name, in case you didn’t catch on.)
Aside from the phallic allusions, a whimsical drug-trip interlude, and a climactic poop-related moment, this could have been innocent fodder for an episode of a Disney Channel sitcom. Still, ”Quiz Lady” works well enough as a decent feature-length conduit for Awkafina’s comedic acting (“Renfield” wasn’t it). It’s direct-to-Hulu fare, and will serve as someone’s evening amusement. At the same time, if Awkafina is not your thing here, she’s unlikely to be your thing in any other comedy. (Her shining moment is dramatic, in 2019’s “The Farewell.”) Much better is her foil, sister Yenny, played by Sandra Oh. Oh has a LOT of fun playing a happy-go-lucky, blowsy older sister. Ignore the fact that Oh is 20 years older- and twice as good at acting: Just watch the scene where she interrogates the Ben Franklin impersonator who runs an old-timey themed inn, (“Arrested Development”’s Tony Hale).
P.S.: Also of note is Holland Taylor (the mother in “Two and a Half Men”), an inane-wisdom dispensing neighbor who’s convinced that her favorite actor is Alan Cumming from “The Good Wife.” (She’s actually into Paul “PeeWee Herman” Reubens, who cameos here, sadly, in his last role.)
HANSEL CASTRO'S HALLUCINA 