'The Debut' Review: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Jesse Eisenberg

At times downright hilarious, at other times so farcical it nearly sails over the top, and at other times quite poignant, Jesse Eisenberg's third time out writing and directing a feature film, The Debut, throws it all at the wall, hits its target most of the time, and serves up a complete delight with go-for-broke perfectly pitched comedic performances from Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti that take the risks and get the laughs, some so rich you will have tears streaming down your face. At one point during an intense Moore rehearsal scene the laughter was so pervasive at today's World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival that the audience broke out into sustained and raucous applause. It is well deserved because comedy is an increasingly rare bird on the big screen these days, and this one is an absolute joy to behold in a packed theatre. A24 plans to release it this December and it is a gift for moviegoers no doubt. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-dsk-tab-mid-article1-uid0' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article1","mid","mid-articleX","mid-article","300x251"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-article") .addSize([[2,2],[300,250],[620,350],[300,251],[501,282],[3,3],[2,4],[4,2],[620,366]]) .exemptFromSleep() .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; });

Set in the world of those community playhouses where the talent is usually very local, but full of enough enthusiasm and theatrical chops to fill the house over three day runs, you might be reminded of other comedies also set in the world of theatre like Mel Brooks' classic The Producers, Christopher Guests' deadpan wonderful Waiting For Guffman, or even the lesser known gem, 1980's Those Lips Those Eyes, but Eisenberg who also gives himself a small song and dance role in this one, finds his own corner of the sky in this sub-genre, not afraid to mix all out farce, sweet but loving moments that never try to mock small town productions, and even some pretty dark detours for Moore's ever dedicated novice cast member. Watch on Deadline if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) { pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 2, } } }, playerId: '32fe25c4-79aa-406a-af44-69b41e969e71', playlistId: '0199e506-e642-7728-8264-463efe71337b', }).render("connatix_contextual_player_div"); }); } else { // This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it's event time. window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer(); }