- Title: Quiz Lady
- IMDb: link
Flirting with themes of fandom and family, Quiz Show stars Awkwafina as an isolated young woman whose main pleasures in life are her dog and the popular quiz show she has watched since she was four years-old. Her mother running away from her nursing home, leaving a large amount of debt, and the arrival of her sister (Sandra Oh) will push Anne out of her comfort zone. When her sister takes note of Anne’s quiz knowledge, a plan begins to form for the pair to come up with the cash needed to pay off their mother’s gambling debts to a loan shark (the same one who has stolen Anne’s dog).
When the movie focuses on Anne and the game show, it works well. Even with Oh’s over-the-top performance, the sister dynamic still works well enough. But as the movie moves beyond it struggles with goofy nonsense such as Anne’s grumpy neighbor (Holland Taylor), her shitty coworkers and nursing home employees, the least scary loan sharks, and the lamest hotel owner ever (Tony Hale).
Will Ferrell gets a supporting role as the actor who has hosted the quiz show Anne’s entire life who turns out to be just as nice in person, and Jason Schwartzman plays the opponent Anne will need to beat on the show who turns out to be every bit of the prick she expected. Even at only 99 minutes, there are big chunks of this movie which could be dropped entirely with many of its gags and antics falling flat. Despite screenwriter Jen D’Angelo attempting to throw some late twists, there are few, if any, surprises with Quiz Show forcing the film to move forward solely on the likability of its star. This works for the most part delivering a passable, if not notable, film that often gets in its own way while struggling to live up to the levels of even the most modest recommendation.
