I really wanted to love director Giselle Bonilla’s debut feature “The Musical,” but it’s just so mean-spirited that it lost me quickly. This film is powered almost entirely by spite, and it least it knows that. But the end result is just so nasty and unpleasant that it makes it difficult to root for any of the characters.
The film follows Doug Leibowitz (Will Brill), a frustrated playwright turned middle school theater teacher whose already sour life curdles completely when he discovers his ex-girlfriend (Gillian Jacobs) is now dating his nemesis: the smug school principal (Rob Lowe) gunning for a Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence. Doug’s response isn’t growth or self-reflection, but scorched-earth revenge. His plan? Sabotage the school’s reputation by mounting the most wildly inappropriate middle school musical imaginable.
There are genuinely funny moments scattered throughout, mostly driven by how far Doug is willing to go and how little shame he feels about dragging everyone down with him. Brill is the engine here, fully committing to Doug’s toxic resentment as it morphs him from a pitiful sad sack into a gleefully awful antihero. His performance is on point even when his character is hard to stomach. Lowe and Jacobs add some extra bite as the couple unknowingly fueling Doug’s meltdown, while the young actors playing the middle school theater kids (Nevada Jose, Chyler Emery Stern, Melanie Herrera) bring an earnest energy that clashes with the ugliness of Doug’s motivations.
That clash, though, is also where the film starts to sour. The story is surprising and clearly eager to provoke (including a truly tasteless final performance), but the film often feels more interested in shock and discomfort than in fully exploring its ideas. The satire of public school performance culture and the politics of the theater world sometimes works, yet the whole thing left a lingering bad taste in my mouth.
“The Musical” is unpleasant in a way that feels deliberate but not especially rewarding, and it’s definitely not something I’d ever want to revisit.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 