.jpg)
Written by Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird,” “Little Women (2019)”) and Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story,” “The Meyerowitz Stories”) and directed by Gerwig, the film follows Barbie, played by Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya,” “Birds of Prey”), and Ken, played by Ryan Gosling (“The Nice Guys,” “Blade Runner 2049”), as they venture to the real world and encounter all sorts of hijinks involving the likes of Gloria, a secretary who works at Mattel played by America Ferrara (“Superstore,” “How to Train Your Dragon”), her daughter Sasha, played by Ariana Greenblatt (“Love and Monsters,” “The Boss Baby: Family Business”), and the president of Mattel, played by Will Ferrell (“The LEGO Movie,” “Step Brothers”).
That’s the briefest possible synopsis because believe it or not, the directions Gerwig and Baumbach take this film in are truly wild and should not be spoiled. The film is loaded with tons of extremely complex ideas and themes on Barbie as a concept, as well as the place something like her has in modern day femininity and masculinity. The film is also stacked with other Barbies and Kens played by a wide gambit of Hollywood celebrities; there are Barbies played by Issa Rae (“Insecure,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”), Kate McKinnon (“Bombshell,” “Ghostbusters (2016)”), Alexandra Shipp (“Love, Simon,” “tick, tick… BOOM!”), Emma Mackey (“Sex Education,” “Emily (2022)”), Hari Nef (“You,” “Assassination Nation”), Sharon Rooney (“The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” “Dumbo (2019)”), and Dua Lipa, and Kens played by Simu Liu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Kim’s Convenience”), Kinglsey Ben-Adir (“Peaky Blinders,” “One Night in Miami...”), Ncuti Gatwa (“Sex Education”), John Cena (“Blockers,” “The Suicide Squad”), and Scott Evans (“One Life to Live,” “Grace and Frankie”). And don’t forget Allan, Ken’s buddy, played by Michael Cera (“Superbad,” “Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist”).
Gerwig and Baumbach have packed this film not just with Barbies, Kens, and societal themes, but also with jokes. There are visual gags, pop culture references, random bits of wordplay, and more that build the entire film to a continuously hilarious crescendo. There are even moments that feel inspired by the films of expressionist Jacques Tati, or the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s. There are even bits of visual comedy that feel straight out of a Looney Tunes cartoon, and it can border on feeling surrealist. It never runs out of steam from the very beginning, but the jokes never feel like they squander the messages either. It really does feel like a very serious story being told with Barbies and Kens, with humor injected into it to help flesh out just how seriously everything is being taken.
Robbie is absolutely phenomenal here, not playing a walking joke or the straight man either. Her performance is actually shockingly emotional and is a lynchpin of the film’s themes. It’s hard to imagine any of this working as well without her. That’s not damning the rest of the cast either, they’re all hilarious and all around great. But Robbie just seems to be operating on another level. The same goes for Gosling, who’s delivering an Oscar worthy comedic performance here. The magic of his role is that, while Ken is often the butt of many jokes and Gosling is clearly playing him as such, he’s also taking him extremely seriously. Ken might be funny, but he also isn’t unserious, and injecting that kind of commitment into a character that could’ve been a one note joke is what makes his performance so memorable.
It’s not just funny or well-acted, but the film is an absolute joy to look at. From the borderline cartoonish real-world sets of Mattel to the scale accurate Barbieland to the hand painted skylines and practical effects. It’s a visual and technical feast, bringing back a lot of old-Hollywood techniques of filmmaking and also staging aspects. A dance number in the third act feels like a direct homage to the Gene Kelly musicals of the 40s and 50s. Just when you think you’ve run out of things to look at, some other detail comes along and shocks you. But you’d be hard-pressed to notice any of those details on the first viewing given that you’ll likely be laughing too hard or welling up with tears.
Because at the end of the day, no matter what brand this is based on or what production company’s logos are at the front of it, this is clearly Gerwig’s film. Not only does it contain the same sorts of themes on exploring femininity and what it means to be a woman that were explored in her previous movies, but it has her signature touch of slight snark and whimsy. Yes, the film might have some heavy themes, but there’s also a wide-eyed fascination to it that makes it easy to just smile at. There’s some heavy stuff here, but it never feels dower. Greta is simply taking you by the hand and telling you a story with the mixture of heart, humor, and pathos that only she can do.
Even with all of the hype leading up to release, it still feels a bit weird and cathartic to say, but “Barbie” is easily one of the best movies of the year. It’s fantastic on a technical and production level, but never lets anything get in the way of its genuine emotional pathos. Lead by two phenomenal, award worthy performances and rolled into a film not interested in being strictly a toy commercial, “Barbie” is surrealist and plastic and truly fantastic. 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment