Grade: B
The citizens of Barbieland feel that the less they seek their source for some definitive, the closer they are to “fine.” Almost every woman in director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is named Barbie, but “our” Barbie (Margot Robbie) is starting to have dark thoughts creep in, like the natural curiosity about death. And lately she hasn’t felt perfect all the time – only most of the time. And sometimes? Her heels touch the ground. (Gasp! Awe!)
The Truman Show remains my favorite exploration into questioning your reality and wanting to look beyond, but I liked Barbie better than Free Guy and Don’t Worry Darling. I figured Gerwig – the director of Little Women and Lady Bird – would do it well. It’s a visual triumph, and will earn every last technical Oscar nomination it gets. Robbie’s Barbie, known as Stereotypical Barbie, leaves Barbieland for the real world (they call it “the country of Los Angeles”) to find the child who plays with her – the source of her recent unorthodox thoughts. This leads her to tween Sasha and her mother Gloria (America Ferrera). Ferrera has a lengthy well-delivered monologue halfway through; the kind of thing mic drops are made for. It’s timed as if she could be holding for applause at the end. Nobody clapped at the screening I attended, but I could see it happening. Let me know if it happens at a showing you are at.
Margot Robbie is the most perfect choice for the titular character. You will love and occasionally be made uncomfortable by Ryan Gosling as Ken, who gets an opportunity to showcase his musical background. Will Ferrell is a master at playing characters who aren’t bad people, just clueless and uneducated about certain things. He is just right as the CEO of Mattel. Rhea Perlman is known as Ruth, and her character’s origin and purpose will be revealed by the end. Helen Mirren’s voiceover narration made me think of Judi Dench’s on Spaceship Earth (the golf ball ride at Epcot).
There is a definite message and mission within the movie. I can’t decide if it was too preachy, or the perfect amount of preachiness. Sometimes I thought “Yeah! Right on.” Sometimes I thought “Yes, but…” Sometimes I thought “That’s a pretty extreme cut-and-dry generalization.” If you are rubbed the wrong way by something, that at least means it made you think, right?
In the midst of some didacticism and heaviness, Barbie freely flows with imagination and wit, with no shortage of visual stimulation. The last line is a showstopper. The sight gags and puns never stop coming. I grinned or chuckled several times. I don’t remember how many. Math class is tough.
Grade: B
Film Reviews by Mark 
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