The Stand In
PARAMOUNTComedians can be great actors, but actors cannot be great comedians. Hersey that may be, history agrees. Robin Williams, Richard Pryor and Jim Carrey are just the tip of the iceberg. They started on the circuit, and eventually hit it big. That, to some degree, is the main issue for The Stand In, the latest Drew Barrymore fixture. A comedienne at the heart of Hollywood is ripped from her place at the top after a meltdown, trying to pluck up the courage to piece her life back together. Director, Jamie Babbit barrels towards this with foolhardy, but earnest, intentions. A comedian enters a court-mandated rehab and hires a lookalike actress to take her place, but this replacement begins to take on a life of her own. It’s like The Parent Trap, but with all the light-hearted fun sapped out of it, replaced by odd pangs of cynical, sinister intent.
As menacing as The Stand In may be, it is nowhere as horrifying as its analysis of Hollywood culture and the leading duo at the heart of it. Barrymore and Barrymore exude an energy akin to that of a panicked reminder that her star power has, unfortunately, faded. Surprising it may be to see how little chemistry Barrymore has with herself, The Stand In’s biggest crime is the sweeping statements it makes on addiction. Clearly, the issue is that Barrymore verbally spars with herself, and her producing the film leaves no real room for questions to be made about the quality of the content. A script penned by the great Sam Bain of Peep Show acclaim, is dead on arrival. No character, crew or cast could pump enough life into this piece.
A low standard is set, but The Stand In struggles to hit that benchmark from time to time. Its notions of humour are horrid, and the expectedly poignant moments come across as weak and underwhelming. With no consistency between these starkly different tones, The Stand In melts away somewhere in the middle of humourless and maniacally inconsistent. There are so many horrendous moments within Babbit’s work here, prying at the heart and soul of this flimsy leading character. A vile hatred blossoms between the faded starlet and the titular stand in; it is rather out of the blue. With only a short while to spin this tale of imposter syndrome, it should be no surprise that this rapid-fire of change is ineffective and shoddy.
Actors and directors who said farewell to their heyday long ago come together for The Stand In, a film that never quite takes flight. All of its harsh messages and moments of light humour are there, but its rigid structure makes for a poor attempt at mocking the Adam Sandler variety of film, ironically never amounting to anything better than what The Sandman has provided. It also conjures up some realism from the career of Barrymore, but lays this reality on thick and struggles to manifest anything that could be considered worthy of anyone’s time. With one last gasp at stardom before crashing headfirst into talk shows and cameos, The Stand In is the final marker for the rise and fall of its leading actor.