By John Corrado

★★½ (out of 4)

Awkwafina and Sandra Oh star in the female-led comedy Quiz Lady as mismatched sisters who end up on a road trip together to compete on a popular quiz show, and it’s an example of a film that is elevated by its leads.

Anne (Awkwafina) has always been obsessed with game shows, namely the long-running nightly Can You Quiz It?, hosted by nerdy, bow-tied Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell). She also likes everything in her life perfect order, from her office job as an accountant, to her neat and tidy apartment that she shares with her pug Linguini.

This is in sharp contrast to her older sister Jenny (Oh), who comes roaring back into Anne’s life when the nursing home calls to let them know that their elderly mother has fled, leaving the sisters on the hook to pay off her gambling debts.

Owing eighty grand to Chinese gangsters who kidnap Anne’s dog as collateral, the sisters hatch a plan to road trip it to Philadelphia, so she can audition for the quiz show and win the money to get the dog back. But this requires going up against Ron Heacock (Jason Schwartzman), the current champion who is positioning himself to take over Terry’s job as host (this aspect of the story seems to have been been satirically inspired by Ken Jennings and the late Jeopardy host Alex Trebeck).

Directed by Jessica Yu, Quiz Lady is one of those slightly uneven comedies that works thanks to the pairing of its leads. Awkwafina and Oh are able to enjoyably bounce off each other and share plenty of chemistry together, both in the big comic moments and quieter character beats. Awkwafina plays the socially awkward character well (Anne’s obsession with watching the game show every night and her encyclopedic knowledge of the answers suggests she could be on the spectrum), and pairs nicely with Oh’s more unhinged portrayal of the hot mess older sister.

The screenplay by Jen D’Angelo mixes over-the-top humour and more sincere moments, before it settles into being a game show satire, and it is a little messy overall. The story follows a somewhat predictable road trip structure that has a slapdash quality to it and leaves a lot of loose ends, with the whole business involving the mother feeling particularly underwritten.

But Quiz Lady is kept fairly entertaining thanks to its performances, including amusing supporting roles for Ferrell, Schwartzman, and Tony Hale, who eats up his bit part as the owner of a liberty-themed hotel who is always in character as Ben Franklin. It’s a slightly better-than-average streaming comedy, that offers some amusing bits as it builds towards a suitably sweet conclusion.

(L-R): Awkwafina as Anne Yum and Sandra Oh as Jenny Yum in 20th Century Studios’ QUIZ LADY, exclusively on Hulu. Photo by Michele K Short. ©2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Quiz Lady is available to stream exclusively on Disney+ in Canada as of November 3rd.