Barbie

 

Score:  A-

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon

Running time: 114 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Barbie is, yes, about the toy doll, but it's not your average brand cash-in, thanks to a top filmmaker in Greta Gerwig and stars like Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.  It certainly knows how to have fun, creating a colorful, lively Barbie World filled with cheery Barbies and Kens.  But Gerwig and co-writer Baumbach have a clever script that somehow connects the surreal with our everyday world.  It's a blockbuster for (just about) all ages - enjoy!

In a parallel universe, Barbies rule a pink, magical world, loving life with Kens at their side.  One day, however, Stereotypical Barbie (Robbie) finds that her happy routine has been interrupted by disturbing thoughts and feelings.  After visiting the outcast "Weird" Barbie (McKinnon) for advice, she decides to go to the real world to find the source of the disturbances.  There, she and Ken (Gosling) find a drabber and far different society.  They can't simply go home, though: Barbie must learn how to address her new feelings and figure out how to reconcile two seemingly opposite worlds.

Barbie is a very fun and funny movie that also has overt but appropriate and striking empowerment themes.  The first thing to almost pop off the screen is the movie's visual flair, a true summer movie if I ever saw one.  The Barbie World is garishly colored, but there are few computer effects and so the physical sets make it feel both more grounded and incongruous (in a good way).  Barbie World truly comes alive during a handful of musical scenes, adding to the happy tone.  The talented writers Gerwig and Baumbach thread the needle with their humor, anticipating the audience's awareness of the absurdity of the premise and seeming to play it at face value but with subtle nods/winks at the ridiculousness.  In Barbie World at the beginning, Barbies and Kens speak and behave like you'd imagine that "living" toys might, in their perfect yet simplistic world.  Then, transitioning to the real world, there's equal humor in these toys' "fish out of water" experiences.  Robbie and Gosling are great fun as the co-leads.  Robbie has to do more of the dramatic heavy lifting (though she has plenty of fun in the first third of the film) while Gosling - appropriately subordinate as Ken - gets to let loose a bit more, but still brings more depth than expected to the role, too.  Ferrell and McKinnon are hilarious, of course, and on the other end, Ferrera, as the one average person, brings real strength in a key if somewhat surrogate-like role.  It's not all fun and games in a suitably fantastic plot, though.  Director and writer Gerwig seizes the opportunity to really dig into what Barbie represents in the real world, and how that plays out in gender dynamics.  She keeps most of it directly connected with the humor - Gosling/Ken's amazement at the power of patriarchy and its... horses; "brainwashed" Barbies being literally woken up by the enlightened Robbie and Ferrera while the Kens are distracted.  But there's also a sweet, earnest moment with Barbie's human creator, and a happy but not so tidy ending.  All this in a well-paced, two-hour package!

***

Having enjoyed Ladybird, I knew Barbie had potential, coming from the same talented filmmaker in Greta Gerwig.  It's turned out to be quite the cultural phenomenon, though I can't say I'm too plugged in to all of that.  What I do know is that the movie is strong summer entertainment, and something much more appealing to, frankly, women, than most blockbusters - but as I can attest, absolutely fine for men, too!  Hollywood desperately needs to make more films along these broad strokes - we need them to bring people of all ages, stages and backgrounds into the movie theater, not just those like me who love superheroes and action.  Whether that happens or not is an open question, but in the mean time, make sure to go and enjoy Barbie!

* By Carolina Cinemas, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72508674