Phone it in

Quote

“She was in Los Angeles and I was in Albuquerque…And she broke down in tears. And I played my part and she played her part. She phoned it in.”- Actor Tommy Lee Jones jokes about doing a scene over the phone in In the Valley of Elah. (Entertainment Weekly)

Meaning
to give a poor performance; not to try very hard

Use
Phoning it in means pretty much the same thing only it usually has to do with a performance that has no energy. It comes from the idea that a really lazy actor or singer might try to deliver a performance over the phone rather than actually coming in to work.People use phoning it in a lot when they’re talking about concerts and movies. It can also be used to talk about other types of performances, like you’re performance at work. If you knew you were going to quit your job for months before you did, and you stopped trying very hard, you could say you were phoning it in near the end.Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon did a scene where they are talking on the phone in In the Valley of Elah. He explains that he and Sarandon were actually on the phone and in different cities when the scene was shot. He makes a joke that Sarandon phoned it in because she literally gave her performance over the phone.Normally, to say someone phoned it in is a mean thing to say. But Jones is only kidding. He actually thinks Sarandon did a very good job. It just happens that she did it over the phone!

Examples
“They’re not playing well at all. This team just doesn’t care. They’re totally phoning it in.”“The show was OK. The singer was kind of phoning it in though. He seemed distracted.”

Grammar Point
Sarandon knew that Jones was making a joke.