Barbie (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
July 21st, 2023. The date that will not soon be forgotten, as The Barbenheimer phenomenon has become one of those extremely rare instances which an initial worry about such different types of films being released on the same weekend has, instead {with dual marketing from both movie camps} created an organic & fascinating sensation which actually benefits the box office haul for both films -- we won't soon see this kind of cultural hit again for quite some time. My Oppenheimer review will follow but, now, onto 'Barbie' (director Greta Gerwig & her partner, Noah Baumbach, have written a sharp script that is both very funny & surprisingly poignant). Just what happens when a doll that has everything she wants ... gets an existential crisis?
The film begins with a desert scene, stunningly lit by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto & narrated by Helen Mirren, in which little girls are alone playing with their dolls and, suddenly, a statuesque plastic female appears to bewitch the children into smashing their dolls to bits. Cue our intro into Barbie Land, a picture-perfect pink confection of a world in which every Barbie is extraordinary. Original - or Stereotypical - Barbie (Margot Robbie, also this film's co-producer) leads the pack, waking up every day in her gorgeous DreamHouse, waving to her fellow Barbies: President Barbie (Issa Rae), Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), Dr. Barbie (Hari Nef), Lawyer Barbie (Sharon Rooney), Mermaids Barbie (Dua Lipa), & many more. There isn't much for main Ken (Ryan Gosling) to do except 'exist within the warmth of Barbie's gaze' and do his job, "beach". He & the other Kens, played by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, et al, simply hang around waiting to be noticed by the Barbies.
Each night is a blowout party at the DreamHouse, with main Ken & some others constantly vying for Original Barbie's (Robbie) attention & affection. That is until Barbie wakes up one morning with flat feet {no longer arched for high heels}, some cellulite, some thoughts about 'death', and is forced to visit Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) for help. It is decided that to 'fix' Barbie, she must exit through a portal to the Real World to find the girl who has simply 'played with her too much' and make the girl happy again. Gosling's Ken decides that, as her 'boyfriend', he must come along for the ride.
Arriving in L.A. besets some problems for the duo. Though Ken's interest is piqued by how confident men seem, Barbie finds that men are ogling her, and that most people seem sad. Once the execs at Mattel, all white men, led by the CEO (Will Ferrell), find out that a Barbie is out & about in the Real World ... all hell breaks loose. Rescued by Gloria (America Ferrera), a Mattel employee {who happens to be a beleaguered mom & former Barbie lover}, & her typical pre-teen daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), the 3 escape back to Barbie Land. All the while, Ken has learned a few things about the status of men in the Real World and, beats the trio back to Barbie Land to implement a newfound patriarchy where Barbies are now the subservient dolls.
Gerwig's concept of Barbie suffering an identity crisis is wholly original. But with her world now turned upside down, she is determined to regain her - and her other Barbie friends' - status. And a deep conversation with her creator at Mattel - Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman) - sends Barbie in yet another direction. Making a live-action film about a toy icon with an existential crisis was never going to be easy, but Gerwig - despite some missteps here & there - balances the tones of a fan-friendly fantasy with biting satire & socially-conscious themes about how we treat one another. 'Barbie' is invigorating, hilarious, & terrifically entertaining. Sarah Greenwood's astonishing Barbie Land production designs, Jacqueline Durran's impeccable costumes & a soundtrack including ear-worm bops by Lizzo, a splash of Ken tunes, & Billie Eilish's stunning "What Was I Made For" all aid the proceedings.
The cast is superb, with wonderfully relatable, flawed main characters in persistent pursuit of meaning. Margot Robbie is the quintessential Barbie. Sure, she looks the part {a joke by Helen Mirren points this out} & has guileless innocence, but Robbie's most impressive achievement is conveying Barbie's naivete & confusion as to why she's feeling the way she does. Barbie, as a character ... is devoid of character. But Robbie's portrayal is just so compelling as her sweet sensitivity is only emboldened by her increasing self-awareness of WHAT she is & WHO she can become. Robbie draws us in with her burgeoning emotions throughout her journey of self-discovery and, her desire to feel at ease with herself mirrors America Ferrera's Gloria so very well.
And like Robbie, Ryan Gosling is the ideal, ever-clueless Ken - buff, blonde, & delightfully 'dim-witted' to the MAX. He's uproariously funny, with stellar singing & dancing skills {though, we know this from The Mickey Mouse Club & La La Land}. In fact, the Ken Doll dance number led by Gosling is simply amazing. Gosling has given surprising comedic performances before {in Crazy Stupid Love & The Nice Guys}, but his Ken is on a whole other level. The conviction with which he delivers each line & inherently silly gesture is just a hoot. And he is given a character arc, as well. Sure, the Kens are the butt of the joke more often than not, but the movie does celebrate men nearly as much as it does women. Young boys/men who don't know how to navigate new societal norms can take positive messages about independence & identity away from the story.
Kate McKinnon is an amusing delight as Weird Barbie. Michael Cera stands-out as the lesser-known doll, Allan, who longs to fit-in with the Gosling & Simu Liu Ken's of the Barbie world. And America Ferrera impresses as Gloria, the Barbie-loving mom desperate to connect with her daughter. Late in the story, Ferrera launches into a grandly stated feminist monologue about 'Things Women Need to Be' but, while everything in the speech is cheer-worthy & dead-on true ... the build-up to it & the impassioned manner with which it's presented felt forced. I think Gloria needed one more character-building scene with her daughter to make the speech feel more than a plot-moving device. I also feel like Gerwig struggled to 'land the plane', a bit. The female empowerment goings-on in the end are powerful, but needed to be utilized in a more efficient manner down the home stretch.
Also, while Will Ferrell is entertaining as the smarmy CEO of Mattel and, I chuckled at the absurdity of his execs, I think the movie would have benefitted from depicting those Real World Century City characters with a little less buffoonery, and a bit more serious treatment ... just for more tonal balance. Having said all of that, Greta Gerwig keeps so many proverbial plates spinning & doesn't end up smashing any. I hoped for, and got, a highly enjoyable journey into a satiric world of pastels & fluorescents, but wasn't counting on the film's more grounded celebration of self-worth, individuality, & what it means to be alive; a film whose goofball antics & subversive, intellectual humor blends successfully with poignant messages that may make tears well-up in your eyes. 'Barbie' is one heck of a cinematic success story that is deservedly taking the world by storm.
The film begins with a desert scene, stunningly lit by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto & narrated by Helen Mirren, in which little girls are alone playing with their dolls and, suddenly, a statuesque plastic female appears to bewitch the children into smashing their dolls to bits. Cue our intro into Barbie Land, a picture-perfect pink confection of a world in which every Barbie is extraordinary. Original - or Stereotypical - Barbie (Margot Robbie, also this film's co-producer) leads the pack, waking up every day in her gorgeous DreamHouse, waving to her fellow Barbies: President Barbie (Issa Rae), Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), Dr. Barbie (Hari Nef), Lawyer Barbie (Sharon Rooney), Mermaids Barbie (Dua Lipa), & many more. There isn't much for main Ken (Ryan Gosling) to do except 'exist within the warmth of Barbie's gaze' and do his job, "beach". He & the other Kens, played by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, et al, simply hang around waiting to be noticed by the Barbies.
Each night is a blowout party at the DreamHouse, with main Ken & some others constantly vying for Original Barbie's (Robbie) attention & affection. That is until Barbie wakes up one morning with flat feet {no longer arched for high heels}, some cellulite, some thoughts about 'death', and is forced to visit Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) for help. It is decided that to 'fix' Barbie, she must exit through a portal to the Real World to find the girl who has simply 'played with her too much' and make the girl happy again. Gosling's Ken decides that, as her 'boyfriend', he must come along for the ride.
Arriving in L.A. besets some problems for the duo. Though Ken's interest is piqued by how confident men seem, Barbie finds that men are ogling her, and that most people seem sad. Once the execs at Mattel, all white men, led by the CEO (Will Ferrell), find out that a Barbie is out & about in the Real World ... all hell breaks loose. Rescued by Gloria (America Ferrera), a Mattel employee {who happens to be a beleaguered mom & former Barbie lover}, & her typical pre-teen daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), the 3 escape back to Barbie Land. All the while, Ken has learned a few things about the status of men in the Real World and, beats the trio back to Barbie Land to implement a newfound patriarchy where Barbies are now the subservient dolls.
Gerwig's concept of Barbie suffering an identity crisis is wholly original. But with her world now turned upside down, she is determined to regain her - and her other Barbie friends' - status. And a deep conversation with her creator at Mattel - Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman) - sends Barbie in yet another direction. Making a live-action film about a toy icon with an existential crisis was never going to be easy, but Gerwig - despite some missteps here & there - balances the tones of a fan-friendly fantasy with biting satire & socially-conscious themes about how we treat one another. 'Barbie' is invigorating, hilarious, & terrifically entertaining. Sarah Greenwood's astonishing Barbie Land production designs, Jacqueline Durran's impeccable costumes & a soundtrack including ear-worm bops by Lizzo, a splash of Ken tunes, & Billie Eilish's stunning "What Was I Made For" all aid the proceedings.
The cast is superb, with wonderfully relatable, flawed main characters in persistent pursuit of meaning. Margot Robbie is the quintessential Barbie. Sure, she looks the part {a joke by Helen Mirren points this out} & has guileless innocence, but Robbie's most impressive achievement is conveying Barbie's naivete & confusion as to why she's feeling the way she does. Barbie, as a character ... is devoid of character. But Robbie's portrayal is just so compelling as her sweet sensitivity is only emboldened by her increasing self-awareness of WHAT she is & WHO she can become. Robbie draws us in with her burgeoning emotions throughout her journey of self-discovery and, her desire to feel at ease with herself mirrors America Ferrera's Gloria so very well.
And like Robbie, Ryan Gosling is the ideal, ever-clueless Ken - buff, blonde, & delightfully 'dim-witted' to the MAX. He's uproariously funny, with stellar singing & dancing skills {though, we know this from The Mickey Mouse Club & La La Land}. In fact, the Ken Doll dance number led by Gosling is simply amazing. Gosling has given surprising comedic performances before {in Crazy Stupid Love & The Nice Guys}, but his Ken is on a whole other level. The conviction with which he delivers each line & inherently silly gesture is just a hoot. And he is given a character arc, as well. Sure, the Kens are the butt of the joke more often than not, but the movie does celebrate men nearly as much as it does women. Young boys/men who don't know how to navigate new societal norms can take positive messages about independence & identity away from the story.
Kate McKinnon is an amusing delight as Weird Barbie. Michael Cera stands-out as the lesser-known doll, Allan, who longs to fit-in with the Gosling & Simu Liu Ken's of the Barbie world. And America Ferrera impresses as Gloria, the Barbie-loving mom desperate to connect with her daughter. Late in the story, Ferrera launches into a grandly stated feminist monologue about 'Things Women Need to Be' but, while everything in the speech is cheer-worthy & dead-on true ... the build-up to it & the impassioned manner with which it's presented felt forced. I think Gloria needed one more character-building scene with her daughter to make the speech feel more than a plot-moving device. I also feel like Gerwig struggled to 'land the plane', a bit. The female empowerment goings-on in the end are powerful, but needed to be utilized in a more efficient manner down the home stretch.
Also, while Will Ferrell is entertaining as the smarmy CEO of Mattel and, I chuckled at the absurdity of his execs, I think the movie would have benefitted from depicting those Real World Century City characters with a little less buffoonery, and a bit more serious treatment ... just for more tonal balance. Having said all of that, Greta Gerwig keeps so many proverbial plates spinning & doesn't end up smashing any. I hoped for, and got, a highly enjoyable journey into a satiric world of pastels & fluorescents, but wasn't counting on the film's more grounded celebration of self-worth, individuality, & what it means to be alive; a film whose goofball antics & subversive, intellectual humor blends successfully with poignant messages that may make tears well-up in your eyes. 'Barbie' is one heck of a cinematic success story that is deservedly taking the world by storm.