An unlikable comedy about an unlikable ruse.

Don’t let the title “The Musical” fool you. The genre is not a musical, but it does regard a school play that was supposed to be “West Side Story,” but ends up being something offensive, like the 9/11 attacks being lampooned. nd we know when a girl wearing cardboard wings runs into cardboard boxes of the Twin Towers. Think about how “Springtime for Hitler” surprisingly won the audience over in “The Producers.” Now, think about how people would react to the attacks being lampooned here.

All that aside, “The Musical” is also a comedy that provides more anger and revenge than laughs. The set-up regards a disgruntled playwright and middle school teacher named Doug Leibowitz (Will Brill), who tries and fails to patch things up with his ex-girlfriend and fellow teacher Abigail (Gillian Jacobs). He brings her flowers and asks to start over, but she tells him that she’s currently dating his rival Principal Brady (Rob Lowe). That’s when his hatred elevates him. 

He also tries and fails to apply for the New York Playwrights Fellowship Application, which is why he calls one of the people behind the committee (Clancy Brown voice cameo on the phone). If his writing was good back then, then why isn’t it good enough now? He tells Doug that the committee think his work is impersonal, and therefore, his moxie and ambitions are raised higher. 

As I mentioned before, Doug was working on a school production of “West Side Story,” but he decides to come up with a 9/11 show that could flip off the principal. Something that could destroy his chances of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence. He wants to keep this production discreet, and wants his students and cast to not tell anyone about it. After all, he suggests to them: “The superpower of the theater is the element of surprise.”

There are also times when an activist student like Lata (Melanie Herrera) would comment to Doug about his casting decisions, like earlier when he casts a white girl like Cindy (Chyler Emery Stern) as the Puerto Rican heroine Maria in what was supposed to be “West Side Story.” He suggests it’s because of Cindy’s singing voice, and “There are no small parts. Just small actors.” Even the principal wants no controversy. 

And the one student he connects well with is Mikey (Nevada Jose), who serves as the stage manager and his confidant. 

Sometimes, “The Musical” has that Stanley Kubrick feel with the score as the intensity vibrates. You can sense something is about to crack as the music pulsates, and when emotions are going to be transferred through the main character. And given the tone, I was reminded a bit of last year’s dark comedy “Friendship.” But that film was trying to break form in the buddy comedy genre. This one is angrier, but not really in a comical way. More in an indulging manner. 

There are times when Brill’s anger is a little funny, but mostly, it ends up being exhausting. If the film was trying not to give him a redeeming quality, then it’s working. And even when his character claims to find his place after the 9/11 show commences, we still think he’s going to revert back to the same tropes. It’s a shame that I have to prefer Lowe over him, but he’s quite charming playing the principal. An actor who is still charming in his 60s should still play a character of his standards. 

I was not a fan of “The Musical,” because of its leading character and concept which still seems like a mean-spirited version of “The Producers.” This is coming from a film critic who saw through the flaws of “Friendship” and laughed his ass off. I didn’t with this movie.

In Select Theaters This Friday