At times downright hilarious, at other times so farcical it nearly sails over the top, and at other times quite poignant, Jesse Eisenberg‘s third time out writing and directing a feature film, The Debut, throws it all at the wall, hits its target most of the time, and serves up a complete delight with go-for-broke perfectly pitched comedic performances from Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti that take the risks and get the laughs, some so rich you will have tears streaming down your face. At one point during an intense Moore rehearsal scene the laughter was so pervasive at today’s World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival that the audience broke out into sustained and raucous applause. It is well deserved because comedy is an increasingly rare bird on the big screen these days, and this one is an absolute joy to behold in a packed theatre. A24 plans to release it this December and it is a gift for moviegoers no doubt.

Set in the world of those community playhouses where the talent is usually very local, but full of enough enthusiasm and theatrical chops to fill the house over three day runs, you might be reminded of other comedies also set in the world of theatre like Mel Brooks’ classic The Producers, Christopher Guests’ deadpan wonderful Waiting For Guffman, or even the lesser known gem, 1980’s Those Lips Those Eyes, but Eisenberg who also gives himself a small song and dance role in this one, finds his own corner of the sky in this sub-genre, not afraid to mix all out farce, sweet but loving moments that never try to mock small town productions, and even some pretty dark detours for Moore’s ever dedicated novice cast member.

Moore plays Mona, an unremarkable New Jersey housewife, basically now walking through life unnoticed even by husband (Patrick Fabian) who just wants her to have dinner ready and drive the kids around. You get the feeling this person is so shy she’s invisible, but that all changes when, after seeing a casting call on the supermarket bulletin board she boldly sets out to audition for a local community production of a musical called Nosy Neighbors. With zero acting experience, Mona has never been on a stage before and here must audition for the role of the building supervisor, Miss Danielle. The part instead goes to ace regional performer Serena Cherry, a star veteran of this Jersey theatre which you can tell by the large poster of her as Evita (Bernadette Peters in a cameo at the film’s start auditioning with a dynamite vocal), but Mona is the only other person auditioning for the role as it turns out (she actually took ALL the info from the bulletin board) and her rather pathetic rendition of one of the show’s songs is quicky stopped by grizzled veteran director Jerry (Giamatti).

But despite her family’s complete indifference to this nascent adventure by Mona, she holds out hope somehow to get the role, and eventually she does when diva Serena suddenly drops out complaining the part is just too small for her. With nowhere else to go on short notice, a desperate Jerry casts her, and then tries to mold her into some kind of acceptable performance.

But what happens as the movies progresses is when the inner thespian she never knew existed comes roaring to the forefront for Mona. That is ignited during an aforementioned rehearsal where Jerry tries to get her to think out of the box and improvise a moment where she is only supposed to show up and say “your rent is due”. This results in a wild stretch of attempts by Mona to give life to the line, building to sheer insane obscenities responsible for the film’s R rating. If ever there was an instant classic example of comedy timing and delivery it is what Moore does here. Priceless.

Suddenly Mona is reborn as an actress searching for meaning in the role much like a Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, even to the point of spending nights in a rundown Jersey apartment building to get the feel of what Miss Danielle might be “experiencing” on the job. Mona has gone pure method for a woman who no doubt has never heard of Lee Strasberg and thinks that Stanislavsky is a vegetable in the produce department. If you think Eisenberg is going to stop here, this whole section goes to dark extremes as Mona takes this small acting gig too far and drives Jerry up the wall.

Moore, as usual, doesn’t play the stereotype but finds real heart in this overlooked soul who is just hoping to find her moment of triumph, of recognition at a point in her life she rightly feels neglected . Joining this community fits the bill, until it doesn’t, and Eisenberg and Moore know just how far to the edge you can go without losing credibility – or the audience. The Debut never does and Moore finds one of her best roles, a chance to again show her comic abilities, but also to achieve a real measure of authenticity in playing a really bad actress who slowly becomes a fairly decent one, the different gradations demonstrating Moore’s remarkable range in pulling off this challenging balancing act. She is as good as it gets.

Similarly, far more toned down though, Giamatti delivers in a role tailor made, his line readings perfection, his mounting frustration a riot, and ultimately his own backstory poignantly touching as he explains how his own theatrical dreams never materialized. This is an actor who nails it every time.

There is also a choice supporting cast, many plucked from the lights of Broadway and the Tonys starting with Peters doing a nice version of herself, and such stage stars as K. Todd Freeman as Marty the musical director; Colton Ryan, Bonnie Milligan, Lili Cooper, even stars like Craig Bierko and Danny Burstein in blink-and-you-miss them walk ons. Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid), and Havana Rose Liu are sweet as welcoming friends behind the scenes for Mona.

Eisenberg wrote all the Broadway-ish songs with titles like “Girl From 4F, Boy From 46D” and the anthem Mona (and Peters) get to sing with varying results, “The City May Have Chewed Me Up (But It Can’t Spit Me Out)”. I want to hear Moore sing that one at the Oscars! He also created the less-than-stellar, but still likeable show this is all wrapped around, Nosy Neighbors. After building on impressive features, When You Finish Saving The World (also with Moore), and his Oscar nominated script for A Real Pain (which won Kieran Culkin an Academy Award), he is showing more facets of his prodigious abilities behind the lens here, not surprising for a multi-talent who is an actor, playwright, fiction writer, filmmaker and now songwriter too. He manages the changing tone of the comedy with great skill, and with something as bananas (literally) as this sometimes dares to get, that is no small task.

Can I already proclaim this as the funniest comedy of the year? There. I just said it.

Producers are Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Ali Herting and Eisenberg.

Title: The Debut
Festival: Telluride
Distributor: A24
Director-screenwriter: Jesse Eisenberg
Cast: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Haile Berry, Bernadette Peters, Havana Rose Liu, Lili Cooper, K. Todd Freeman, Colton Ryan, Bonnie Milligan, Craig Bierko, Patrick Fabian, Cara Buono, Danny Burstein, Eldar Isgandarov, Susan Blommaert, Jesse Eisenberg
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 45 mins