The Deb/bie Downer

Back in the depths of time, when this blog was still somewhat new and exciting, we would occasionally get feedback from various aggrieved comedy insiders complaining that we were living in the past. Why were we still saying nice things about ancient programs like The Games and The Late Show when there were hilarious new faces blazing a bright future for Australian comedy? Our answer then was the same as it is now: those new faces were Chris Lilley and Rebel Wilson, and they were shithouse.

Which brings us to The Deb, Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut and one of the bigger train wrecks Australian film has seen in recent years. Wilson, as everyone knows, is somewhat litigious, even when it comes to issues of basic addition; lets just say you can google “Rebel Wilson The Deb Lawsuit” and see how things are currently working out for her.

The Deb is a musical comedy based around – hold onto your hats – a deb ball. Originally a stage musical comedy written by people who are not Rebel Wilson, Wilson decided to make it her debut as a big screen director, and then… you know, google “Rebel Wilson The Deb Lawsuit”. Which is a bit of a shame, because the musical side of things isn’t all that bad.

Unfortunately this is not a musical review blog, so enough about the music. As for the comedy… well, it features Rebel Wilson as the primary antagonist, and she’s doing her thing. It’s not as bad as her previous film, Bride Hard, which was the kind of turd you have to break up with a spade before flushing, but it’s still not exactly side-splitting.

Part of the problem is that the long-ish journey to the big screen – the musical was being performed in 2022 – has made some of the topical comedy pretty dated. There’s a lot here early on about cyber-bullying in the form of #cancelling and weaponising feminism, which feels like an issue for a previous generation of teens. Or at least, something we’ve all seen before, which kills the comedy.

Things do pick up a little when the action relocates to the small bush town where the deb is happening. Mostly because the stereotype of bogan bushies is a little more enduring. Not any more funnier, mind you, but at least the cheap jokes don’t feel like they’re trying to be topical.

It’s a bit of a slog in the middle stretch as the story stumbles towards a climax. There’s a lot going on but none of it has much weight to it. Worse, this is where Wilson’s character steps into the spotlight. She is, to be clear, an astonishingly one-note performer. And that one note was played out 15 years ago when she was… let’s say 14, it’s hard to keep track.

The Deb is a decent enough musical. The leads are pretty good, as are the few members of the supporting cast not following Wilson’s lead and playing everything as broad as the side of a barn. As a comedy, it has all the problems of everything Wilson has been behind since Bogan Pride. Whatever nuance or insight the script might have contained is drowned out by a succession of clumsy tonal choices that turn characters into caricatures.

So yeah, The Deb isn’t very funny, but it isn’t a disaster either. From any other director you’d come away looking forward to seeing whatever they did next. And Rebel Wilson probably has enough money stashed away to get another project off the ground at some stage. It’s finding people willing to work with her that might be a problem.

At least she gave old mate Sam Simmons a role in this one.