By Jana Monji
Three prominent award-winning women of Asian descent, Jessica Yu, Sandra Oh and Awkwafina, bring this uneven tale of sisterhood and finding one’s destiny to your home on the streaming service Hulu. Quiz Lady, which made its US premiere as part of AFI FEST 2023, isn’t perfect, but it’s entertaining and an easy watch.
The New York-born Chinese American Yu is better known as a TV director (nominated for a 2019 Primetime Emmy for Fosse/Verdon), but was the 1997 Oscar winner for Best Documentary Short on a writer who spent much of his life in an iron lung (Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien).
The movie features two Golden Globe winners. Chinese-Korean American Awkwafina won a 2020 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for The Farewell.
Korean Canadian Oh snagged Globes in 2006 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for Grey’s Anatomy and again in 2019 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama for Killing Eve. Oh and Awkwafina play estranged sisters.
Brought together by their mother’s disappearance, they learn their mother has escaped the nursing home and isn’t welcome back. Taking refuge in Macau, their mother has left behind a considerable gambling debt and the sisters must somehow pay this off or their beloved pug, Linguini, will be killed.
While Anne (Awkwafina) has a lackluster career and stable income working at CPYay, Jenny (Oh) is currently between jobs, living out of her car. Anne is “a 28-year-old woman living the life of a 90-year-old widower,” settling down every evening to watch her beloved show, Can’t Stop the Quiz, and with the affable, bow-tied host, Terry McTeer (a subdued Will Ferrell), becoming a father figure.
Through flashbacks we learn that Anne turned to this quiz show when her mother and father were arguing (with Jodi You playing a young 6 to 9-year-old Anne and Shirley Chen playing 16-22-year-old Jenny). At first, we see the past only through Anne’s childish memories, but Jenny is a decade older and her memories of shared events are slightly different. There was a time when the two almost found a home in the distant Burbank (Quiz Lady was filmed in New Orleans and Los Angeles) with their more well-to-do cousins, but while Jenny fit in, Anne did not and this memory will figure in how their destiny plays out in this adult fairytale.
As they pause between brainstorming about how to pay off their mother’s debt so Anne can watch the quiz show, Jenny watches Anne fall into a trance, petting Mr. Linguini, the dog Jenny dumped on Anne before leaving on another disastrous escapade, and answering all of the questions to the quiz show.
Jenny films Anne and uploads the clip to social media, resulting in a viral video and Anne being dubbed the “Quiz Lady.” The video also catches the attention of the game show producers who encourage Anne to make an audition. But their mom’s creditor ups the stakes by kidnapping Mr. Linguini.
The game show is struggling, but not because of the host. The current champion, Ron Heacock (Jason Schwartzman), is a preening self-promoter who oozes arrogance. He has more haters than fans. He even seems to be plotting to take over for the aging McTeer.
Anne is against auditioning so Jenny must help Anne overcome a few hurdles which include stage fright that leaves her “armpits like Niagara Falls.” Anne will, of course, get on the show, and, dog and animal lovers, be assured that no dogs will be killed.
Jen D’Angelo’s script might be better suited for a TV series because of its meandering nature. Director Jessica Yu doesn’t always ably navigate the tonal shifts either. For a feature film, the action and screenplay needed to be tightened up. Yet this is still an enjoyable film that works on the chemistry of the two leads. While the plot may sound best suited for family fare, Quiz Lady is rated R for drug use and language.
Quiz Lady made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (9 September 2023) and its US premiere at AFI FEST (26 October 2023). Quiz Lady will be released on Hulu on 3 November 2023.
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