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The Stand In (2020 film)

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The Stand In
Official poster
Directed byJamie Babbit
Written bySam Bain
Produced by
  • Tom McNulty
  • Chris Miller
  • Ember Trusedell
  • Caddy Vanasirkul
  • Chris Miller
  • Brian O'Shea
Starring
CinematographyEric Moynier
Edited byPatrick Colman
Music byDaniel Wohl
Production
companies
Distributed bySaban Films
Release date
  • December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11) (United States)
Running time
101 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$100,884

The Stand In is a 2020 American romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit, written by Sam Bain, and starring Drew Barrymore, Michael Zegen, T.J. Miller and Holland Taylor. It was released on December 11, 2020.

Plot

Actress Candy Black (Drew Barrymore) starred in a long list of blockbuster comedies, almost all of which involve a scene in which she trips, falls and exclaims her catch phrase "Hit me where it hurts!". However, she developed serious issues with drugs and anger management over the years, and had become difficult to work with. On the set of her 2014 film Entrapment Baby, she refuses to come out of her trailer until her stand in Paula (also played by Barrymore) reveals that director Barbara Cox (Holland Taylor) is strongly considering replacing her with Melissa McCarthy. When she finally agrees to film the scene, Black's co-star Jenna Jones (Ellie Kemper) is supposed to hit Black over the head with a breakaway bottle, but accidentally hits her with a solid marble statue instead. In a fit of rage, Black shatters a nearby ashtray and one of the shards lands in Jones' eye. A member of the film crew caught the entire incident on cell phone camera and soon leaks it to the public, ruining Candy Black's career.

For the next five years, Candy Black reclusively shuttered herself in her Long Island mansion, while facing a litany of legal issues stemming from her addictions and tax evasion. One of her only joys in life is her romantic pen pal relationship with Steve Grady (Michael Zegen), with whom she shares a passion for Shaker carpentry - however, she goes by her legal name Cathy Tyler when communicating him, and hasn't told him that she is a famous actress working under a stage name. In May 2019, a judge mandates her to spend several months in drug rehabilitation, which jeopardizes her plans to finally meet Steve in person. She then reconnects with her former manager Louis (T.J. Miller) to help her find her former stand-in Paula, who is now a struggling actress living out of her car. They invite Paula to Cathy's Long Island mansion, where Cathy asks Paula to attend rehab in her place. Paula agrees, on the condition that Candy resumes acting and lets Paula be her stand-in again.

While impersonating Candy in rehab, Paula meets Barbara Cox's assistant Ingrid (Michelle Buteau), who tells her that Cox is offering her a cameo role in a reboot of their former collaboration Saddle Up. Upon her release from rehab, Paula shares this offer with Cathy, but Cathy refuses because the filming time conflicts with her first arranged date with Steve. Desperate to resume her career, Paula manages to hack into Steve's online profile and message Cathy from it, claiming he is married and can't be in contact with her anymore. Paula then impersonates Cathy to attend her first date with Steve and initially plans to break up with him, but is quickly smitten with him and begins dating him as Cathy.

Although the Saddle Up cameo is still in limbo, Cathy requests that Paula impersonate her again for a series of six-figure talk show appearances, including an on-air apology to an eyepatch-clad Jenna Jones. This puts Paula in contact with Louis (who is still oblivious to Cathy and Paula's arrangement), as well as their new publicist Simon (Charlie Barnett). Simon asks Paula on a date and she accepts, but they are interrupted when Paula and Steve spot each other in a crowd of paparazzi (Steve first realized that Cathy/Paula were Candy Black after recognizing her from a television interview). Paula and Steve go back to Steve's apartment and they have sex. Several days later, Paula attends an award show as Candy, where Barbara Cox herself tells Candy that the Saddle Up offer still stands.

In order to host another date with Steve at the Long Island mansion, Paula drugs Cathy's drink and hides her body in the backyard. During their date, Steve admits that he is living under a persona of his own - he is actually a man named Larry Cooper from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who gained infamy for accidentally peeing on the New Orleans Holocaust Memorial while drunk at night. Due to Cathy's high drug tolerance, she survives being drugged and goes into a bathroom inside the mansion to vomit, and Paula narrowly avoids Steve discovering the real Cathy in the bathroom before he leaves. Cathy and Paula then get into a physical fight, during which Paula drags Cathy outside the house and locks her out. Paula then calls the police and convinces them that she is the real Candy Black, whereas Cathy is a crazed stalker.

Suddenly rendered homeless, Cathy tries to go to Louis for help. However, when Cathy explains that he's been working with her stand-in Paula ever since Candy Black's comeback began, Louis drops her as a client in favor of working with Paula. Cathy then draws on her substantial woodworking skills to apply for a construction job, and sneaks back into the Long Island mansion to retrieve some certification papers. Steve spots Cathy sneaking through the house and despite initial shock, he quickly realizes that she is the real Cathy Tyler that he used to speak to on the phone. Paula walks into the house shortly after him, and the three of them are in the same room for the first time - confusion ensues over their respective secret identities, and Cathy realizes that Paula sabotaged her relationship with Steve to further their career. Cathy storms out of the house, and Steve dumps Paula to reunite with the real Cathy.

Steve and Cathy go to his townhouse and pick up on building a genuine relationship, while Paula films for the Saddle Up reboot as Candy Black. Paula is uncomfortable doing one of Candy's trademark physical gags, and rushes to Steve's townhouse to beg Cathy to resume working as Candy. Cathy goes downstairs to personally refuse Paula's offer, and though she compliments Paula's Method acting skills over the past few months, she gut-punches her for trying to sabotage her relationship with Steve. As Cathy goes inside, a group of teenagers take selfies next to a downed Paula before she gets back up. One year later, Paula is successfully working as Candy Black and dating her publicist Simon, while Cathy and Steve have retired to a happy, quiet life as woodworkers in a Shaker community.

Cast

Production

In February 2018, Drew Barrymore joined the cast of the film and served as a producer under her company banner, with Jamie Babbit directing from a screenplay by Sam Bain.[2] In January 2019, Michael Zegen joined the cast of the film.[3] In February 2019, Charlie Barnett, Ellie Kemper, T.J. Miller and Holland Taylor joined the cast of the film.[4][5][6] Principal photography began in New York City in January 2019.[7][8] In February, filming took place in Lexington and Versailles, Kentucky.[9][10]

Release

It was scheduled to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2020.[11][12] However, the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In July 2020, Saban Films acquired distribution rights to the film.[14] It was released on December 11, 2020.[15] It was released on Netflix on April 10, 2021.[16]

Reception

The film received negative reviews from film critics. It holds a 30% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 37 reviews, with an average of 4.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Despite impressively committed work from Drew Barrymore in a dual role, The Stand In struggles to find the humor in a premise with no shortage of comedic potential."[17] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 38 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[18]

References

  1. ^ "The Stand-In". Cinando. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  2. ^ White, Peter (February 2, 2018). "Drew Barrymore Lines Up Rom-Com 'The Stand-In' With The Exchange – Berlin". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  3. ^ White, Peter (January 31, 2019). "'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel's Michael Zegen Joins Drew Barrymore's Romantic Comedy 'The Stand-In'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  4. ^ McHenry, Jackson (February 11, 2019). "Russian Doll's Charlie Barnett on Alan, Oatmeal, and the Bachelorette Party That Changed His Life". Vulture Magazine. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  5. ^ "DREW BARRYMORE & ELLIE KEMPER FILM 'THE STAND IN' IN NYC". pplplaza.com. February 20, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  6. ^ Miller, TJ (February 21, 2019). "Because of the Drew Barrymore film I'm doing I had to sadly cancel the Friday shows 😔 You will love the film and we added shows!!". Facebook. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  7. ^ Kay, Jeremy (January 23, 2019). "Drew Barrymore rom-com 'The Stand-In' starts production in New York (exclusive)". Screen International. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Adams, Kirby (January 29, 2019). "Celebrity watch! Drew Barrymore heads to Kentucky for her next film". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  9. ^ Musgrave, Beth (February 25, 2019). "These Lexington streets closing Tuesday morning for filming of Drew Barrymore movie". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  10. ^ Centner, Caitlin (February 21, 2019). "Versailles shop becomes setting for Hollywood film". WKYT-TV. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  11. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (March 3, 2020). "Tribeca Sets Feature Lineup Of Films For 2020 Fest". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "The Stand-In". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Beresford, Tribly; Lewis, Hilary (March 12, 2020). "Tribeca Film Festival Postponed Amid Coronavirus Fears". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  14. ^ N’Duka, Amanda (July 15, 2020). "Drew Barrymore Comedy 'The Stand-In' Lands At Saban Films". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  15. ^ Nolfi, Joey (October 28, 2020). "Watch Drew Barrymore vs. Drew Barrymore in wild Stand-In trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  16. ^ "Drew Barrymore's 'The Stand In' Making SVOD Debut on Netflix in April 2021". What's on Netflix. March 17, 2021.
  17. ^ "The Stand In (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  18. ^ "The Stand In Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
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