critics consensus

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. Read critic reviews

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Movie Info

A stand-in takes over an actress's career and identity after performing her community service for tax evasion.

Rating:

R (Drug Use|Sexual Reference|Language Throughout)
Genre:

romance
Original Language:

English
Director:

Jamie Babbit
Producer:

Tom McNulty, Chris Miller, Brian O'Shea, Ember Truesdell, Caddy Vanasirikul
Writer:

Sam Bain
Release Date (Theaters):

Dec 11, 2020 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Dec 11, 2020
Runtime:

1h 41m
Production Co:

Wrigley Media, Flower Films, Ingenious Media, The Exchange, Polyphemus Productions

Cast & Crew

Drew Barrymore
Candy

Holland Taylor
Barbara Cox

Andrew Rannells
Nico

Ellie Kemper
Jenna Jones

T.J. Miller
Louis

Michelle Buteau
Ingrid

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Critic Reviews for The Stand In

All Critics (36) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (25)

This satire misfires.

December 19, 2020 | Full Review…

Leslie Felperin
Hollywood Reporter
As movies go, The Stand In certainly isn't a headliner. Yet like its title character, the movie and its star get about as much mileage as they can out of this opportunity.

December 11, 2020 | Full Review…

Brian Lowry
CNN.com
The film's meanders somewhere between comedy-ish and drama-ish, never managing either.

December 11, 2020 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…

Nell Minow
RogerEbert.com
While Barrymore throws herself into her dual roles with enthusiastic aplomb, this is a sluggish, brazenly unlikeable comedy-drama hybrid that's one of the year's more disappointing failures.

December 11, 2020 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
What's a bigger offense than a movie wasting away a committed Drew Barrymore performance? That would be a movie wasting away two committed Drew Barrymore performances.

December 10, 2020 | Full Review…

Tomris Laffly
Variety
Drew Barrymore plays two roles in "The Stand In" and it's tough to decide which is more intolerable.

December 10, 2020 | Full Review…

Chris Hewitt
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Despite some funny bits, The Stand In is more of a drama about those who make comedies, somewhat like Judd Apatow's Funny People. If you go into it knowing this, it'll take you far less time to plug into it.

January 19, 2021 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
More sophisticated than it looks, this comedy takes the tropes of the raucous gross-out movie and twists them into an engaging and refreshingly offbeat rom-com.

December 19, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
A missed opportunity...a hapless mixture of drama and farce that wastes some good performances, including two by Drew Barrymore.

December 17, 2020 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Unlikable Barrymore comedy has drug use, lots of swearing.

December 16, 2020 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Tara McNamara
Common Sense Media
[The] lack of consistency leaves you wondering just what the aim was. Of course, if the goal was a movie that can't figure out if it's Bowfinger or Single White Female, well ... mission accomplished?

December 14, 2020 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…

Allen Adams
The Maine Edge
By the time the credits roll, The Stand In only really asserts itself as something which would have benefitted from being trimmed down into a situational parody for an episodic television show.

December 14, 2020 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com