✯✯✯½

This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.

You know that feeling of being around someone who consistently watches Jeopardy! every day of the week and won’t miss an episode? That sort of person happens to be whom Quiz Lady is about. There’s no doubt everyone knows at least one person who’s like that in their lives, especially when they seem like they have everything in order at that point in their lives – even leading up to the preparation for every new episode of a quiz show like they wanted to participate. All this is great setup for a comedy, as director Jessica Yu would show it, even though Jen D’Angelo’s script doesn’t feel like it goes all the way where you’d hope it can.

Awkwafina stars as Anne Yum, an introverted woman whose life revolves around a Jeopardy!-esque quiz show named Can’t Stop the Quiz – an obsession she developed in order to escape the chaotic relationship she has with both her mother and her eccentric older sister Jenny (Sandra Oh). With the two of them now caught in a bind after their mother’s debts have led to the kidnapping of Anne’s beloved dog, the mismatched pair set out to pay off the incredible debt by having Anne as a contestant on her favourite quiz show, to become a surefire winner. But of course, this also sets an internalized crisis within Anne, who anxiously does not want to mess up in front of game show host Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell).

The pairing of Awkwafina and Sandra Oh is a perfect combination as one could ever hope for, but the effectiveness of their chemistry is aided by them playing against type. Where one could imagine the concept of an overtly dedicated and sheltered quiz-obsessed lady whose perfect life revolves around a game show, and her relationship with an incredibly chaotic sister, it’d be easy enough to see the roles going to the opposite of their players. But in how they both embody those roles, there’s a perfect chemistry developing between the two of them which keeps Quiz Lady so wholly energetic from beginning to end.

Where Quiz Lady is at its strongest comes as a result of the direction of the visuals. Jessica Yu, best known for her work in documentaries before this, shows herself to be a strong visual storyteller, but every moment in the lives of both the sisters is directed with specificity – first highlighting their own experiences as Asian-American women, though also in emphasizing the polar opposite lifestyles that they live. All this goes from both Anne’s completely mundane life at the office, even down to the many outrageous outfits that Jenny is seen sporting all throughout the movie. But it also extends itself down to the design of the stage of Can’t Stop the Quiz.

Much can also be said about how the film gets wrapped into the lives of American quiz show contestants and the people who run everything behind the scenes. As the host of Can’t Stop the Quiz, Will Ferrell is playing his best Alex Trebek impression akin to his days of parodying the beloved game show host on Saturday Night Live, but still embodies the kind heart that many have loved watching on television nightly for so long. Schwartzman’s own comedic timing is also welcomed, especially as the overtly cocky know-it-all who maintains an absurdly long win streak (much like record holder and current host Ken Jennings), while getting on many viewers’ nerves (calling back to Arthur Chu). The attention to detail here is especially impressive, given how Jessica Yu builds a sense of the chaos building up from the prospect of being on a popular quiz show, and watched by millions of viewers simultaneously at that.

But I think there’s a clear disconnect between how the film handles its comedic moments and the core, about sisterhood. The script ends up becoming the biggest hindrance for so many strong players in the game, which ends up resulting in bits with otherwise stilted comedy and sometimes and even awkward stretches that don’t really go anywhere. A lot of the movie is about the bond that these two women have with one another despite being polar opposites in every way possible, and it’s the moments that Jessica Yu is able to pull out of the two where the film finds itself at its best. There’s even a welcome cameo that might just as well leave the film with a bittersweet feeling, too.

Quiz Lady isn’t highbrow comedy, but I think that as a way to pass the time for an hour and a half, it does more than well enough to serve its purpose. It’s a film that embraces its silliness in its best moments, but in how it captures the chaos that comes with having your own life revolve around a popular game show before coming on, and just a film all about sisterhood, it’s so much fun. A lot of that energy is owed to both Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, whose chemistry keeps the whole movie afloat, but also the love it has for game show hopefuls to appear on live television in front of millions across America.

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Watch the trailer right here.

All images via 20th Century Studios.

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Directed by Jessica Yu
Screenplay by Jen D’Angelo
Produced by Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Maggie Haskins, Itay Reiss, Jen D’Angelo, Awkwafina, Sandra Oh
Starring Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, Jessica Elbaum, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, Dumbfoundead, Will Ferrell
Release Date: November 3, 2023
Running Time: 99 minutes