From the beginning, 20th Century Studios really didn’t seem to know what to do with “Quiz Lady.”
Back when it was shooting in New Orleans in 2022, the Jessica Yu-directed road comedy didn’t even have a real title. It was the “Untitled Sisters Comedy.”
Shortly after cameras began rolling, it was announced Yu’s film would bypass theaters and premiere instead on the streamer Hulu.
Now that it has arrived, it’s not hard to understand the hesitance.
Yu’s “Quiz Lady” is the kind of movie that audiences might find themselves wanting to love — and one that, indeed, has its fun moments. Unfortunately, it’s undone by an all-over-the-mapness that suggests Yu and company really weren’t sure themselves what kind of movie they wanted to make.
Satire or sister flick?
At times, “Quiz Lady,” with its built-in “Jeopardy” sendup, feels like a satire. At other times, it feels like an absurdist alt-comedy. At still others, it’s a heartfelt ode to sisterhood and a treatise on the lingering effects of childhood trauma.
The obvious problem there is that, from a storytelling perspective, it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to weave so many conflicting tones together without them banging clumsily against one other.
In “Quiz Lady,” the sum total is a heartfelt but uneven shrug that probably should have been better than it is.
Based on a screenplay by Jen D’Angelo (“Hocus Pocus 2”), it’s built around an undeniably intriguing premise, albeit one with a plot so rangy that it’s difficult to describe with any degree of brevity.
Sandra Oh and Awkwafina are at the center of it all, playing two maladjusted adult siblings — Jenny and Annie, respectively — who both still carry around the scars of their unstable upbringing.
Dysfunction and more
Oh’s Jenny is a thorough mess but a happy one, the type of self-delusional dreamer who is convinced her big break is imminent — and who is content to sleep on other people’s couches until it arrives.
Awkwafina’s Annie is the more functional of the two, although that’s not saying much.
She’s got a proper office job, at least. After work, though, her life revolves around her favorite game show — the fictional “Can’t Stop the Quiz,” hosted by a Trebek-informed Will Ferrell — which she watches religiously with her beloved pug, Mr. Linguini, at her side.
Things take a turn for Jenny and Annie when, early in the movie, they learn they are on the hook for a staggering gambling debt rung up by their absentee mother. If they fail to come up with the $80,000 she owes, the sisters are told, they will never see Mr. Linguini again.
And therein lies a perfect example of the movie’s uneven, sloppily conceived nature.
On one hand, the dognapping provides a ticking-clock element to move the story along — but not because the baddies have any intention of harming Mr. Linguini. Rather, their diabolical plan is to pamper him to the point that he never wants to go home again.
The quiz show angle
Naturally, Annie is mortified by the prospect.
That’s inspired stuff there, made even funnier when we learn the bad guys need the $80,000 so they can care for all the other pet-napped animals whose owners refused to pay up.
But on the other hand: “Mr. Linguini”? Is that really the best they could do?
Anyway, to raise the money, Jenny hatches a cockamamie plan — her specialty — that involves traveling to Philadelphia so Annie can make a mint on “Can’t Stop the Quiz.”
General road-trip hijinks ensue — although fans of local movies shouldn’t expect much recognizable scenery. This is one of those just-here-for-the-tax-breaks movies that shoots in New Orleans but doesn’t showcase it.
Along the way, “Quiz Lady” becomes a movie of contrasting moments. Oh and Awkwafina, for example, are a fun on-screen pair, and they generate a reasonable amount of laughs together.
Additionally, Ferrell’s turn as quiz host Terry McTeer — a blend of Alex Trebek and Mr. Rogers — is perhaps his most sincere and nuanced performance since 2010’s underrated “Everything Must Go.”
Faltering moments
There’s also a brief cameo from actor Paul Rubens, in his final film role, which will give Pee-Wee Herman fans a chance to say goodbye.
It’s the moments between those high points, though, that “Quiz Lady” frustratingly falters.
This is one of those movies that has promise, that looks good on paper, that really could have been something.
But unfortunately, in the end, “Quiz Lady” just doesn’t have the answers.
Mike Scott can be reached at moviegoermike@gmail.com.