The Debut

It’s whip-smart and exceptionally funny.

It’s a complex, titanic performance from Moore, who frequently reminds audiences that when she doesn’t have a safety net, she’s one of the best actresses alive.

Eisenberg is an actor and playwright, so he writes what he knows, but The Debut is also one of the most self-assuredly cinematic comedies to come out of Hollywood in quite some time.

At the core of The Debut, Eisenberg is poking fun at the process of performing, making fun of the absurdity of the craft, and having a laugh at the seriousness with which some actors approach everything—even a supporting role in a local production of an ensemble musical. Shaped by his own experiences, Eisenberg’s film has the insight to add wit to the absurd observations filling this comedy.

As the main character, Julianne Moore is in almost every scene of The Debut. Eisenberg has worked with her before, in his directional debut, and he manages to get an even better performance out of the actress in this new film. In fact, Moore gives one of the most defined, convincing turns in her already illustrious career, playing Mona (and, by extension, Mona's character Miss Danielle) with an authenticity that may not be matched this calendar year.

Never finds a suitable tone for its wannabe-moving and sorta-kinda satiric tale of a housewife who goes looking for herself on the stage.

All these elements come together beautifully in the 1992 The Simpsons episode A Streetcar Named Marge. In Jesse Eisenberg’s new film The Debut, not so much.