Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
72 Adela
39 Adventures of Power
78 Afghan Star
61 After the Storm
66 Afterschool
xx All the Best
58 American Casino
72 Amreeka
48 Antichrist
73 Araya
62 Art & Copy
55 As Seen Through These Eyes
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
13 Beautiful Life, A
70 Beeswax
35 Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71 Big Fan
66 Black Dynamite
51 Blind Date
xx Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76 Bliss
35 Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57 Boys Are Back, The
45 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
70 Bronson
45 Burning Plain, The
xx Carriers
55 Casi Divas
57 Chelsea on the Rocks
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
59 Collapse
44 Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
67 Departures
xx Dil Bole Hadippa
71 Disgrace
xx Do Knot Disturb
70 Earth Days
24 Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
xx Eulogy for a Vampire
xx Everyone Else
xx Fatal Promises
56 Fifty Dead Men Walking
62 Five Minutes of Heaven
74 Flame & Citron
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
28 Free Style
xx From Mexico with Love
50 Fuel
25 Gentlemen Broncos
50 Give Me Your Hand
58 Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
52 Grace
66 Harmony and Me
81 Headless Woman, The
xx Heretics, The
63 Horse Boy, The
73 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
74 Humpday
94 Hurt Locker, The
29 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16 If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75 In Search of Beethoven
83 In the Loop
61 Intimate Enemies
42 Irene in Time
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
19 Labor Day
xx Laila's Birthday
41 Little Ashes
41 Little Traitor, The
66 Liverpool
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
83 Maid, The
xx Ministers, The
59 More Than a Game
67 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
xx Mystery Team
48 New York, I Love You
73 Night and Day
66 No Impact Man
47 Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34 Other Man, The
xx Painter Sam Francis, The
54 Paper Heart
xx Paradise
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
44 Peter and Vandy
35 Play the Game
77 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx Pretty Ugly People
65 Providence Effect, The
76 Rembrandt's J'accuse
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
40 Shrink
61 Skin
77 Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx Skiptracers
46 Splinterheads
39 St. Trinian's
89 Still Walking
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
55 Storm
65 Tetro
70 That Evening Sun
72 Thirst
xx Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61 Trucker
xx Turning Green
83 U2 3D
66 Unmade Beds
66 Unmistaken Child
70 Visual Acoustics
55 Walt & El Grupo
67 Way We Get By, The
69 We Live in Public
64 Wedding Song, The
64 Where is Where?
xx White on Rice
74 Woman in Berlin, A
69 World's Greatest Dad
70 Yes Men Fix the World
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx You, the Living

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Debut, The

EMAILPRINT5 Card Productions

Debut, The reviews
60
8.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Gene Cajayon
John Manal Castro

Directed by: Gene Cajayon

Release Date:
Theatrical: October 5, 2001
DVD: September 9, 2003

Running Time: 94 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Dante Basco, Eddie Garcia, Tirso Cruz III, Gina Alajar, and Darion Basco

A young Filipino American's dreams of becoming an animator are in conflict with those of his immigrant father, who is intent on seeing him become a doctor.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

New Times (L.A.) David Ehrenstein

The cast is uniformly excellent; all involved seem keyed into the subtextual subtleties of a story that, while simple on the surface, is exceedingly rich underneath.

Read Full Review >
80

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Illuminating as it is entertaining.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Tribune Kevin M. Williams

Delightful coming-of-age film that becomes universal by way of its subject matter.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Familiar in its story arc, but fresh in its energy and lucky in its choice of actors.

Read Full Review >
70

The New York Times Lawrence Van Gelder

Sometimes amateurishly acted by the appealing younger cast but is nonetheless a neat blend of well-drawn major characters and drama, music, dance, romance and humor that generates considerable charm and achieves a heartwarming resolution of its generational conflict.

Read Full Review >
70

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Having built his cast from friends and family, the director is left with some stilted acting, but that's easily outweighed by the film's infectious enthusiasm.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

A likable, if somewhat earnest, exploration of cultural identity.

Read Full Review >
60

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

It is also, despite the all-too-rare focus on the Filipino American community, a creakily familiar take on an age-old family dynamic.

Read Full Review >
60

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

Has a sweet low-budget quality that sometimes slips into TV-movie schmaltz.

Read Full Review >
50

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

That it feels so predictable is, ironically, a tribute to the universality of the experience it explores.

Read Full Review >
50

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

A melodramatic yarn that transcends some of its technical and storytelling flaws through the cheery energy and sincerity of its cast.

Read Full Review >
50

Variety Dennis Harvey

A pleasant and polished first feature for director Gene Cajayon.

Read Full Review >
50

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Earnest and predictable.

Read Full Review >
40

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

A hackneyed coming-of-age drama.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Beverly R. gave it a10:
This was a great movie that went through most issues in today's American-Filipino life. I really loved how it showed how life can be difficult. It had an extremely good theme to it. Funny and entertaining as well! :-D

Lovel G. gave it a 5:
This movie was able to show the cultural aspect of being a fil-am but it doesn't really stand up to my standards as a widely accepted cultural movie like the "Big Fat Greek Wedding." The plot is boring and very predicatable. It's more of a high school play than a full-length film. The actors from the Philippines who played their role well suffered terribly by the very bad dialogue and poor directing. If you invite Eddie Garcia to your movie, it better be good since he is a legend and must do him justice in a film. I bet if you made a really outstanding story Eddie Garcia and some fil-am guy would have been enough to make the first fil-am movie a hit. A grand-dad and grand-son story line would have made this a better movie. Of course you have to change the title to something else. I congratulate all the actors who appeared in this poor film and please next fil-am film-maker make a better film than this one. I felt I was watching a cultural dance show and basketball game for novices.

Lulani A. gave it a 6:
I think that it is great that a Filipino is finally entering the mainstream with "The Debut". It is wonderful to see such an under represented group of people who have such a large impact on America finally being recognized. However, I do not think that it is fair that many Filipino writers and Filipinos in general are hailing this as the best thing since sliced bread. The plot is over-dialogued and not so original, and there are several awkward moments throughout the movie where things seem more like a Disney After-School movie then a full length feature to be commended. Also, the focus on Filipino culture is way too extreme. Although the movie is enjoyable becuase I do recognize the cultural indications, as an educated person, I cannot help but feel like the plot and dialogue in general are aimed at a 6 year old little girl.

Bboy shortcut shapeshifterzcrew gave it a 10:
Whassup yall, Wana express the greatest thankz to director Gene Cajayon and all the film crew and the actors n actresses for blessing Philippines and the filipino communities around the globe with this great movie. This film gave us Pinoys n Pinays who grew up overseas from the motherland a chance to tell our stories n to contribute our experiences to the western world.This movie gave us recognition to a wider audience and has done well to make known the beauty of filipino western culture.As a Pinoy Brit I big this movie up to the fullest and I definitely wna encourage all Pinoys n Pinays,especially those who grew up overseas to big this up with me. This is something we should all be proud about. By tha way a shout out to Joy Bisco-you are so Fine! Maganda ikaw!!! Got so much more to say but can't express my appreciation in words. Neways all us Pinoy brothaz n sistaz here in U.K are 100% with movie. Nothing but love. Maraming salamat!! Peace Shortcut

James S. gave it a 7:
I love the fact that Filipinos are getting out there and getting heard. We have to transcend in media, and that this film makes a good effort earns it a couple points there, but it's story lacks in dealing with the complexities that is the trend among filipino fathers and sons. It touches on it, but abandons it when tying to achieve the romantic Hollywood theme. The short film was much beter. But all Filipinos and Asians for that matter keep up and raise up in the world of media, we all need each other!! Good effort!!

Luan L. gave it a 10:
A touching movie when annabelle and ben were outside touching each other's hand a touching moment.

Santi gave it a 5:
Cliched in a way only John Hughes could love still, the movie should receive some props for tackling a once-in-a-blue-moon Filipino American storyline however, for pure film technique and writing, one is much better served owning a copy of "The Flip Side" which, absent of half the hype "The Debut" brings, remains the only Filipino American film to be selected for the Sundance Film Festival. And that should speak volumes.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use