Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, 2021.
Directed by Josh Greenbaum.
Starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Jamie Dornan, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Damon Wayans Jr., Kwame Patterson, Reyn Doi, Michael Hitchcock, Phyllis Smith, Vanessa Bayer, Rose Abdoo, Fortune Feimster, Mark Jonathan Davis, Tom Lenk, Andy García, and Reba McEntire.
SYNOPSIS:
Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time – ever.
I must confess right away that the entire time watching Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, it felt like the characters were based on some ancient source material I’ve never seen, especially considering the number of times the titular longtime friends (played by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, both of whom also wrote the script marking a Bridesmaids reteam) go on tangents about former flames and previous events that feel like they would be ripped from episodes of a hypothetical TV series and referenced here as inside jokes for fans. Even during the few parts I enjoyed, which is not that many, it felt like something was going over my head. Now knowing that this is all an original creation from the aforementioned stars and directed by Josh Greenbaum (who has collaborated with Kristen Wiig before), it just feels like a rambling mess, a relic of its time crafted in the modern age, potentially offensive in plenty of ways, and all-around offputting.
Before viewers even get the chance to meet Barb and Star, the movie opens with a look at some nefarious homicidal plans (complete with an underground lair) and a plot so ridiculous it makes some of the goofier James Bond movies look plausible. Said mastermind Sharon Gordon Fisherman (also played by Kristen Wiig) also suffers from a skin pigmentation disease rendering her ghostly pale unable to get some sun, and more problematically, a tired villain construct of a character with a disability vowing to take revenge on grounds of being bullied. In this case, the torment harkens back to some prior experiences on the eponymous Vista Del Mar. I am willing to be a little more forgiving on this painfully schlocky archetype of a baddie since it’s already hard to take anything seriously here, but it’s easy to draw the conclusion that the writing is in bad faith when there are dwarf Asian sidekicks that seem to just exist as a joke based on appearance and some weird cultural appropriation aspects.
And hold that thought, because Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is one bizarre comedy, from the moment the two sit on a cherished couch that they have told each other numerous stories on (think Beavis and Butthead if they were chipper ladies getting up there in age) that’s part of the store they work for which it turns out they just got fired from. They decide to get out of their comfort zones and do something interesting with their lives, also heading to Vista Del Mar.
Sharon’s not-official boyfriend Edgar (Jamie Dornan who proves himself once again to be capable in stranger, more comedic roles and winds up one of the only good things here) on the scene to plant a bug for preparation of a massive attack on the resort involving mosquitoes. Yeah, don’t even ask; Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar certainly deserves points for imagination. In one of the more effectively amusing sequences (including a guy on piano singing about his love for boobies), Barb and Star have a chance meeting with Edgar where they become intoxicated, have a threesome (while there’s nothing wrong with this, the movie continuously finds low bars with awful sexual humor and the way romance is presented), and suddenly a love triangle develops as Edgar begins to question if Debbie will ever finally commit to him or if he will always just be her pawn. The sequence also features a rave techno version of The Heart Will Go On that’s oddly catchy and the only thing close to making for entertainment besides Jamie Dornan playing a dense buffoon and getting his own wacky musical number.
For as insane as all of this sounds, it’s mostly boring and becomes a formulaic romantic comedy about Barb and Star going behind their backs trying to woo Edgar. Initially, it takes an interesting approach for a romantic comedy endorsing hookup culture, before abandoning that concept entirely into something conventional. As characters, Barb and Star are somewhere between annoying and likable as long as you intermittently tune them out.
The resort setting is obviously beautiful radiating tropical colors and the story was presumably conceived on some batshit powerful drugs, but it didn’t lead to a worthwhile destination. Watching Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is like talking to your best friend’s mom for two hours straight; you adore her but sometimes you just need her to stop talking because nothing coming out of her mouth is funny or engaging.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
