The Stand In Parent Guide

Although she’s had a successful career in a long-running comedy movie franchise, Candy Black (Drew Barrymore) hasn’t quite got her life together. In fact, she’s been struggling with serious substance abuse problems, culminating in a massive on-set meltdown. More bad behavior results in a court appearance, where a judge sentences her to 90 days in a rehabilitation facility. Not that she plans to go: Candy has an ace in the hole, her former stand-in, Paula (also played by Drew Barrymore). In exchange for taking Candy’s place in rehab, Paula gets the actress’s assurances that she will continue her career, thereby ensuring Paula’s continued employment. But when Paula gets out, Candy has lost all interest in film work. Paula, on the other hand, sees an opportunity to make a name for herself…or, at least, to take an existing name for herself. But identity theft turns out to be a slippery slope…

Early in the film, during one of Candy’s less dignified roles, her agent (played by T.J. Miller) is heard to remark: “This isn’t [terrible], it’s just an alternative type of quality”. Unfortunately, that statement was eerily prescient. The Stand-In is certainly a different type of quality from anything entertaining or watchable. I would gladly have drilled out my own kneecaps rather than watch this. I’ve had more fun in dental waiting rooms than I had with this mess.

Content concerns are about what you’d expect for a film about an unhinged actress being sent to rehab. The film opens with some cocaine and prescription pill abuse, and there are frequent references to substance abuse throughout the rest of the film. The bigger issue is the volume of profanity, which runs at about 80 sexual expletives in a 101 minute runtime. There are also some graphic sexual jokes and innuendo, along with a handful of scenes depicting slapstick violence.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Drew Barrymore. When she’s in something with a decent script, she’s a talented actress. This does not have a decent script, and since Barrymore is essentially playing two of the main characters, I found myself resenting her after the first twenty minutes. Two hours of painfully un-funny dialogue, most of which is hers, got me to the point where seeing her on screen filled me with vague dread. Although the poor writing isn’t her fault, you have to wonder why she agreed to the film in the first place. Maybe I’m just expecting too much from a woman who routinely appears in Adam Sandler comedies.