THE DEB Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Rebel Wilson
Stars: Charlotte MacInnes, Natalie Abbott, Shane Jacobson, Stevie Jean, Tara Morice, Rebel Wilson, Sam Simmons, Brianna Bishop, Karis Oka, Steph Tisdell, Costa D’Angelo, Hal Cumpston, Alex Champion De Crespigny, Ben Turland, Ioane Saula, Scarlett Crabtree, Julian McMahon.
If someone threw elements of Mean Girls, Welcome To Woop Woop and Muriel’s Wedding into a blender together with a collection of some of the quirky and eccentric characters that populate many of those outback comedies, the result would be something like The Deb. The Deb is an adaptation of the 2022 stage musical written by musician Meg Washington (How To Make Gravy, etc) and television writer Hannah Reilly (the miniseries Sheilas, etc). It marks the directorial debut for Rebel Wilson. But The Deb has been mired in controversy and its release delayed due to numerous lawsuits involving Wilson and the producers.
Following a scandal at her elite high school caused by her latest protest, outspoken TikToker and aspiring activist Maeve Barker (Charlotte MacInnes, in her film debut) finds herself banished to Dunburn, a small dusty town in rural New South Wales where “feminism goes to die.” Due to a lengthy drought the town is struggling to survive. But it still maintains some of the traditions of the bush, such as the annual rodeo and the debutante ball in which young girls are presented to society in a lavish formal setting.
Maeve has been sent to live on the farm with her uncle Rick Simkins (Shane Jacobson), the town’s mayor, and his teenage daughter Taylah (Natalie Abbott), a frumpy awkward misfit who is desperate to fit in and be accepted by the cool girls in town. Taylah pins her hopes on coming out at the deb to increase her standing.
Soon after arriving in town Maeve has a run in with the trio of local mean girls, led by Annabelle (Stevie Jean), known as the Dixie Cups. Maeve is dismissive of the town and its ways, but her scathing observations and cruel putdowns are soon made public in embarrassing circumstances and threaten to throw a pall over the excitement in the lead up to the deb ball. A couple of other incidents, including a fire at the town hall, further threaten to derail the plans for the deb. Can Maeve make amends and save the day? No real surprises here.
Wilson does a good job with her directorial debut, and she even receives a credit for writing extra material to expand on the stage production. The musical numbers are staged with flair and energy and are superbly choreographed by Tony winner Rob Ashford. A couple of the songs are quite catchy despite their vulgar, profanity-laden lyrics. Cinematographer Ross Emery does a good job of capturing the small-town location with his bright lensing, bringing Dunburn to life. Margot Wilson’s costumes are also great.
Wilson draws good performances from her ensemble cast, especially some of the younger performers. Jacobson has a genial screen presence and brings his usual laconic and laid-back, down-to-earth style to his role. Tara Morice (from Strictly Ballroom, etc) brings gravitas to her role as Shell, the town’s veteran dressmaker and one of the most sympathetic characters. Abbott is good as the frumpy and guileless Taylah, and her socially awkward ugly duckling character will remind audiences of Toni Collette’s Muriel Heslop from P J Hogan’s 1994 classic Muriel’s Wedding. Wilson also plays a key role here as the awful and bogan Janette, the town’s hair stylist who operates her Curl Up N Dye salon out of her garage, but her familiar comedic schtick is a little self-indulgent and irksome. There is also a small cameo from the late Julian McMahon, in one of his final film roles.
Some of the humour is cringeworthy and bawdy in places, and many moments fall flat, but nonetheless The Deb is very Australian in tone and still entertaining. However, with an overly generous running time of two hours it outstays its welcome by a good twenty minutes.
★★★
