I am always a huge fan of game shows. I watched a myriad of them growing up and still tune into them here and there. However, I am nowhere near as dedicated to game shows as Awkwafina is in the latest comedy Quiz Lady. I didn’t know much about this film going into it but was intrigued because it isn’t often we get comedies about someone going on a game show.
Quiz Lady follows sisters Anne, played by Awkwafina and Jenny, played by Sandra Oh, as they find out that their mother has a gambling problem, and she owes some very bad people a very large amount of money. The very same people kidnap Anne’s dog whom she loves more than anything. In order to help their mother, Jenny tries to convince her sister Anne to go on a game show where she knows almost every single answer to every question. She has not missed one airing of the show since she was a child. However, it isn’t as easy or simple as it seems. The sisters aren’t exactly on terrific terms with each other, so they have to work together to both rekindle their relationship and save their dog and mother.
Quiz Lady is certainly an interesting film, to say the least. It was made to be a comedy, but I was also expecting a little serious tone in there as well given the situation with their mother and the relationship between the sisters. I wasn’t entirely right or wrong. The movie tried so hard to be funny. I’m not sure if I was just in a bad mood that day, but I think I only laughed once or twice. The comedy wasn’t that funny, it was just bad.
The good thing I have to say about it was that the story was decent. I followed it well and it was well executed. Awkwafina and Sandra Oh had great chemistry between them which made the film better. Will Ferrell also did great as the side character and Jason Schwartzman was solid as the “antagonist” of the film.
Like I stated above, the direction Quiz Lady went was good. The only thing I wish they included more of was everything with the mother. We barely got to know what she is like besides that she likes to gamble. The entire point of Anne going on the show to try and win all that money was to save her mom. There just wasn’t enough expansion on the relationships between the sisters and their mother.
Final Thoughts
This wasn’t the best comedy movie out there, at times I found myself getting distracted. However, Awkwafina and Sandra Oh held up to their names and made this movie a much enjoyable watch. There are things that didn’t make sense and things I wish they added but overall, it was a solid watch with excellent performances. Maybe other people will find the humor better, but it just wasn’t for me.
