The world is abuzz with talk of Jerry Blankenbuehler’s (Paul Giamatti) local production of Nosy Neighbors. After all, he’s the biggest name in New Jersey community theater! His radical artistry has led him to the decision of casting Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore), a quiet and methodical housewife who hasn’t sung since her time in choir decades ago, in the role of a lifetime: as the supporting character of Miss Danielle. This simple set-up is what sets off The Debut, the latest film from writer/director Jesse Eisenberg. And if his last film, A Real Pain, represented Eisenberg’s skill in writing characters that allow actors to convey great restraint, his new film races in the complete opposite direction. This is a film which leans full tilt into its madcap energy and guarantees to never let up. It’s a loose film, constantly reorienting itself and keeping the audience on its toes, while never losing any sense of steam throughout Mona’s time discovering the wonderful world of the arts. Who knows what whim brought Mona into the Nosy Neighbors audition that fateful day; Eisenberg just drops his lead character (and his audience) into the middle of the nerve-riddled audition room to experience this moment with all the tension that comes from putting yourself out there for the world to see.
Of course, the world in this case is moreso just a small neighborhood in New Jersey. But for Mona, who hasn’t been to an actual city in ages, her local neighborhood might as well be the biggest audience possible on Broadway. The way Mona carries herself is indicative of a woman who has been pushed to the sidelines so many times in her life that she doesn’t even consider the fight for her own self-confidence to be worth it. Instead, she deals with the pure mundanity of her lifeless husband, Howard (Patrick Fabian) and her two young adult children with a hollow smile on her face. She wants to be freed from the shackles of her routine! And so, as she waits for Jerry to call her into the theater for her audition, her timidity and her nerves come spilling out. When we first see Mona on stage, Moore sheds all of her stardom for something so revealing: a shy woman frighteningly putting herself out there. It’s the first of many moments in this film where Eisenberg finds a way to momentarily halt the film’s truly hysterical comedy and deliver something that feels purely human. The emotional honesty on display in this film is simply a marvel; that it never undercuts the humor is equally impressive. And while this feels like a full-blown comedy, it always maintains its interest in the emotional well-being of these characters.
And so, Mona first meets Jerry in a scenario that couldn’t be more painfully awkward and upsetting. But out of stewing in that frustration comes Mona’s first real breakthrough. It’s easy to tell that she’s emerging from her usual subservience, even if only for a moment. Her energy takes on that of a caper, becoming giddy with potential excitement and nerves as she plots her own homegrown schemes around town and home alike. This energetic shock seems to breathe new life into Mona, who feels determined despite her still-reserved demeanor. It’s also one of the many tactics Eisenberg uses to keep his audience engaged and invested in Mona’s thrill of a lifetime. It’s incredibly effective, as the film becomes more lively the more we become attached to Mona and her chipper demeanor. Upon hearing she got the part, there’s a euphoric excitement that courses through her and the audience alike. Just like her, we the audience cannot wait to see what this rehearsal process is going to entail.
It’s in this nuts-and-bolts process of bringing a musical to life that Eisenberg leans fully into the fun of his own creation. As Mona would likely say, the film is a hoot! The Debut leans fully into its own theatricality. Everything is allowed to be a bit more heightened, from the musical and lighting cues to the ways in which this entire ensemble behaves in front of the camera. All these characteristics of the film speak to an essential trait Eisenberg is relying on here: genuine passion. It’s so clear how much Eisenberg feels the charm of a local theater production like this. He portrays this process as essential because, to many of these artists who pour everything into the productions they represent, it is. It’s what makes Giamatti’s performance such a delight. He is bringing his beloved irritation to this character in a way that screams nothing else matters to Jerry as much as whatever his current production is. It’s why he pours so much time into ensuring Mona is ready for the job, regardless of how large her character’s presence in the show actually is. This way of thinking makes way for a scene that has been much talked about during the fall festival season. It’s the sort of discourse which may prime people into worrying about potential overhype. Incoming audiences might become too anticipatory for the scene that caused mid-movie applause breaks in every major festival screening it had. And yet, The Debut is able to handle such a weight and craft a scene that feels designed in a lab to win Moore her second Oscar. It’s simply a bravura example of Moore’s ability to switch registers at a moment’s notice. Beyond it being a flat-out hysterical depiction of emotional upheaval, Moore reveals so much of what Mona has bottled up for so long. It’s a complete breakdown of the character which will reverberate throughout the remainder of the film.
Plainly put, Eisenberg has written Moore the opportunity to remind audiences how and why she should be considered a titan of the big screen. And what’s most exciting about The Debut is just how many other tricks Moore has up her sleeve beyond this mic-drop moment.
The Debut feels like another major accomplishment from Eisenberg. Beyond it simply being an immaculately staged comedy, he never loses the essential exploration of emotion that resonates throughout the film. In creating the fictional musical that is Nosy Neighbors (Eisenberg wrote all 13 original songs for the musical), he has given his characters and his audience the opportunity to explore the varied relationships one can have with art. For some, it can light a spark that revitalizes us and shapes how we see the world. For others, it can form a jaded lens that causes bitterness and frustration. We can lose ourselves completely in the allure of a potential spotlight, giving way to unchecked ego, or we can rediscover the essential notion that it indeed takes a village to move an audience in a meaningful way. Within the multitude of human emotions lies the most resonant driving force of this film’s script; it again proves that Eisenberg can have a blast entertaining his audience without sacrificing the convincing notion that his characters are real, complex individuals, each with their own personal struggles, dreams, and characteristics. As The Debut makes its way towards its finale and the opening night of Nosy Neighbors, Eisenberg explores the necessary balance between complete emotional catharsis and the chance of wreaking havoc on everything around us in the process of self-discovery. What is most essential about art, ultimately, is that it invokes something in us we thought we lost, or perhaps never even knew we contained in the first place. The Debut is a very funny film, but its loveliest qualities exist in the spaces which allow for reflection on the art that most profoundly affected us in our own lives.
The Debut celebrated its New York premiere in the Spotlight Section at the 64th New York Film Festival.