Of all the projects Rebel Wilson could have taken on for her directorial debut, there’s much about “The Deb” that makes sense. Based on a largely well-received stage musical, it’s got a sturdy if straightforward premise about the fictional town of Dunburn, Australia with all the many distinct characters that call it home and the outsider protagonist who finds herself part of the community.
There is plenty of room for heartfelt charm, chaotic shenanigans and more biting observations about its culture clash to be explored, though rarely does “The Deb” capitalize on this. It’s a meandering experience defined by the broadest of narrative strokes, cardboard cutout characters and musical numbers that start fun before growing more oddly obligatory in nature.
With all that in mind, while “The Deb” is unlikely ever to be considered one of the great movie musicals, it still has a smattering of playful gags that make it hard to fully dismiss. When the film, written by Hannah Reilly with additional writing by Wilson (the latter credit being part of an ongoing dispute), is an unabashed comedy, you almost are willing to dance along with its flaws. When it tries to find dramatic beats, it loses its rhythm, leaving you wishing that it could capture the spark of when Wilson was in the imperfect but still superior “Pitch Perfect.”
The film, which premiered on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows Maeve (Charlotte MacInnes) who is being punished for a stunt she pulled at her posh private school and sent to the remote town of Duburn. It’s there that she reconnects with the more reserved Taylah (Natalie Abbott), her cousin who is just hoping to get invited by someone to the town’s upcoming debutante ball.
Surrounding them are a whole lot of quirky characters, including one wacky local played by Wilson herself, who are all trying to get by in the middle of a drought with little support from the government. Soon, they’ll have to band together to use the debutante ball to shine a light on their struggles and secure funding to help keep the town afloat.
Much of this setup is promisingly silly, only for the film to abandon what could be a solid comedy in favor of the more superficially sweet and saccharine. That approach could be to the taste of those looking for light fluff, but it is ultimately undercut whenever the film haphazardly attempts to offer up more serious observations.
Yes, living in a small town is different from being in a city. And yes, the internet has reduced important conversations about inequality in the world to be about making yourself look good. But rarely does “The Deb” cut below the surface to address these ideas. It builds many of its jokes off of these observations but remains rather one-note, which makes the humor quite repetitive.
In addition, the musical numbers increasingly lose their energy and start to grow more static, leaving little else to get swept up in. Even as the cast can capture some genuine emotional moments, the writing remains far too stiff, relying on the half-sketched idea of a podcast becoming the driving point of conflict.
As for who is responsible for said writing, that’s part of a larger controversy surrounding the film. “The Deb” is currently at the center of a nasty legal dispute between Wilson and its producers. It’s a mess that’s more interesting than the film itself.
This context is unavoidably part of the conversation surrounding the film, though the situation should not influence one’s evaluation of Wilson’s debut and whether it works on its own merits. After all, plenty of films have had wildly messy behind-the-scenes disputes that spill out into the public eye and still manage to work. “The Deb” just won’t be remembered as one of them.
At best, the film is only occasionally fine. There are brief flashes of what could be a fun musical, but it never strings together enough of them to truly soar. By the time you get to the more contrived conclusion, you’ll find yourself straining to remember memorable musical numbers or which characters really stood out and which faded into the background.
It’s not a complete disaster by any means, but it’s still a diversionary, ultimately disposable musical that lacks the necessary sense of delight necessary to hit the high notes.
