Julianne Moore Steals the Show in The Debut
Still from The Debut. Photo courtesy of the Calgary International Film Festival.
Every time I watch a Julianne Moore movie, I remark to myself “this is the greatest living actress.” When you survey Moore’s career, it is one triumph after another: Short Cuts, Boogie Nights, Magnolia (this writer’s all-time favourite film), The Big Lebowski, Children of Men, Maps to the Stars, and most importantly, her work with Todd Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven, I’m Not There, May December). She has a real sterling ability to lay bare on screen, with zero vanity, with a commitment that is peerless.
Julianne Moore’s latest triumph is The Debut, the new film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, and her role as New Jersey housewife Mona Friedman is one who literally needs to learn how to commit to live out her dream of playing a role in a community theater production of a musical called Nosy Neighbors. She is a shy suburban housewife who has a husband who doesn’t care about her (played by Patrick Fabian of Better Call Saul fame), she has friends who don’t really care about her life, and she has kids who are about to move out. Mona’s life is in stasis and she is looking to this production of Nosy Neighbors to get her out of her rut. The director of the production is Jerry Blankenbuehler, played by Paul Giamatti, and he is a director who strives for precision, even for a seemingly silly show like Nosy Neighbors.
The heart of The Debut are the scenes between Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, as they both push each other to the brink in ways I do not dare spoil. There is a scene during the mid-way mark, where Giamatti’s Jerry is asking for a certain line read from Moore’s Mona, that genuinely brought the house down in the theater I was watching it. This is the type of moment where a movie like The Debut demands to be seen in a theatre, as you cannot replicate this same feeling at home by yourself.
As a big fan of Julianne Moore’s, this stands amongst the best roles she has ever played, a role that is both hilarious and dramatic that you also get to see Moore sing! I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s a scene where Moore’s Mona character interacts with Broadway royalty Bernadette Peters (who plays veteran theatre actress Serena Cherry) that is such a gift!! Part of the reason why Moore has achieved such a legion following is due to her level of fearless commitment, which the fact that is partly what the Mona character goes through makes this quite possibly Julianne Moore’s signature performance when it is all said and done.
The Debut is just flat-out a good time at the movies, that takes you on surreal twists and turns that you do not expect going in. I also must say the songs for the Nosy Neighbors show (which Jesse Eisenberg wrote himself!) are both really funny and believable! By the end of the film, songs like “This City May Have Chewed Me Up (But It Hasn't Spit Me Out)” feel genuinely stirring and moving!