Muddled ‘Musical’ Movie Strikes the Wrong Chord

Comedies about scrappy groups of misfits staging a theatrical production have become their own sort of genre. Examples include Mel Brooks’s “The Producers,” Kenneth Branagh’s “In the Bleak Midwinter,” Christopher Guest’s “Waiting for Guffman,” and Andrew Fleming’s “Hamlet 2.” The latter film belongs to the familiar “kids putting on a show” tradition in movies about theater.The new picture “The Musical” is the latest entry in that category with its story about a California middle school mounting a performance of “West Side Story.” But the film isn’t really about a ragtag group of youngsters so much as it’s about their teacher, a frustrated playwright, while the musical they put on turns out not to be the iconic reimagining of “Romeo and Juliet” but an altogether more contentious original spectacle. At one point, the instructor Mr. Leibowitz declares to his class, “‘West Side Story’ sucks.” This contentious statement reflects the movie’s often contrived attempt to strike an irreverent, too-cool-for-school pose. Though at times an intriguing portrait of an artist as a misanthrope, the ostensible comedy isn’t as clever as it appears to be and ends up mirroring its protagonist’s limited talents. Mr. Leibowitz (first name Doug) is played by nimble actor Will Brill, who won a Tony Award for his performance in “Stereophonic” a couple of years ago. Doug is a stereotypical mixture of nerdy aspect, comic facial expressions, and the standard cocktail of frustration and insecurity, yet Mr. Brill is able to imbue the character with a real live-wire quality, akin to Travis Bickle with a theater degree. At the start of the movie, Doug’s main source of discontent stems from his breakup with art teacher Abigail (an underused Gillian Jacobs), which he believes to be temporary. During an attempt at a reconciliation, though, he finds out how she’s been dating Principal Brady (Rob Lowe) and this revelation puts into motion the film’s revenge plotline, which sees Doug decide to secretly create a new theatrical work with his students rather than put on the dependable “West Side Story.”This original production deals with a subject not entirely compatible with musical theater and theater kids—one certain to offend many moviegoers. Suffice to say, Doug’s moment of inspiration occurs when a random student sends a paper airplane flying into the small-scale model of the “West Side Story” set. The musical’s controversial content gives the picture an edginess that’s in sync with its raising of hot-button issues like diversity casting and culture’s focus on “marginalized communities.” Yet these topics often come across as nothing more than props, meant to bolster the flippant, politically incorrect tone but not really to be delved into. Just as superficial is novice director Giselle Bonilla’s use of Hitchcockian stylistic touches and screenwriter Alexander Heller’s veritable variety show of themes and modes, the latter of which include workplace farce, mild satire of liberal sensitivities, and dark drama of fragile masculinity and entitlement.The film’s major faults are the lack of real bite to the black comedy and Ms. Bonilla’s neglect in applying some humorous distance when depicting Mr. Leibowitz’s actions and pronouncements. Indeed, a key scene in which the bitter teacher explains to his students what he means when he complains of “the machine” is decidedly solemn instead of played for laughs. Even though a line of dialogue occasionally induces a chuckle, most of the amusement is either lame or ironically pseudo-serious, such as when we hear Doug declare “the writer is a paradox” in voiceover. Mr. Brill certainly ups the comedy where he can, and Mr. Lowe, who also served as a producer, is as slick and entertaining as Principal Brady as he was as a city manager in TV’s “Parks and Recreation.” Among the younger thespians, Melanie Herrera stands out as Lata, the Latina who must contend with her teacher’s conflation of his professional and personal failures with her frustrated aims at recognition and representation. Most movies about creating theater culminate with opening night performance and “The Musical” is no different. While Ms. Bonilla allows us a few glimpses of the rehearsals, including a snippet of a button-pushing, high-kicking number à la “Springtime for Hitler,” the director ultimately doesn’t deliver the goods during the film’s climax, lacking the courage to portray much of what seems like a very political, profane show. Instead, she employs a montage of moments we’re expected to piece together, with Enigma’s “Return to Innocence” blaring sarcastically on the soundtrack and drowning out the musical’s dialogue and any additional songs and lyrics.The sharpest insights in Mr. Heller’s script are those exploring how the egocentric Doug may not be as good a writer as he believes himself to be, and how his destructive arrogance is a form of terrorism. The filmmakers’ clear attempts to emulate Alexander Payne’s “Election,” though, particularly in its denouement, only serve to highlight how their movie isn’t as intelligent and sardonic as that modern-day classic. “The superpower of theater is the element of surprise” is a mantra Mr. Leibowitz repeats several times; this debatable phrase could describe cinema as well. What is surprising about “The Musical,” aside from the controversial show at its center, is how unfunny and scattershot it is — not like a tight, acerbically bright musical at all. Drama teachers and theater devotees deserve better.

Muddled ‘Musical’ Movie Strikes the Wrong Chord

Muddled ‘Musical’ Movie Strikes the Wrong Chord

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