Gerwig delivers with a playful and clever Barbie movie
First, here’s a bit of context and factoids for your next trivia night: Barbie (the doll) was created by Ruth Handler and manufactured by the toy company Mattel, Inc. in 1959. A live-action Barbie movie had been rumored and tossed around in studio purgatory for many years before landing in the hands of Warner Bros. and director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird; Little Women). There are over forty previously released Barbie movies, most if not all straight-to-video and all animated, but Gerwig’s vision was bound to be different. With each new set photograph, marketing ad, and interview released, anticipation grew to a fever pitch. Now it’s finally arrived: Barbie the live action blockbuster summer movie! And it’s as playful as a child could want and as incisive as everyone older yearned for.
Margot Robbie (I, Tonya; Babylon) plays Barbie, one of many “living” versions of the doll happily thriving in Barbieland, a utopia of pink colors, sunny beaches, and easy living. Ryan Gosling (La La Land; Drive) plays Ken, similarly one of many versions of the Ken doll living in Barbieland, all of whom pursue the affections of the various Barbies. One evening at one of Barbieland’s commonplace house dance parties, Barbie (the Robbie one) has peculiar thoughts, those of an existential nature, and the following day everything is suddenly out of sync. In order to return her world to normal, she must travel outside Barbieland to the Real World. To give more details than that would spoil the clever plot and intelligent writing that carries characters and places into conflicts with each other.
The script is co-written by Greta Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach (dir. Marriage Story; Frances Ha). Combining meta-commentary with straight-forward playfulness, the story unfolds with emotional sincerity but contains numerous moments of self-referential humor, often winking at the audience. At times, Barbie recalls fish-out-of-water comedies of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s like Blast from the Past and Legally Blonde, but with a sharper sense of commercial and social satire. Thematically, however, Barbie has more in common with explorations in duality like The Truman Show. There’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Furthermore, while I can’t measure, nor ever fully understand the depth of feminine relatability and empowerment that Barbie exudes, I appreciate that it’s passionate in its indictment of today’s gender dynamics. Barbie attacks subtly and directly, but also in hilarious and emotional fashion.
The casting and production designs are impeccable. Gosling and especially Robbie deserve end-of-year accolades for their performances. The entire cast, a diverse bounty of familiar names and faces, appear to be having endless fun in their roles. You can almost see the actors’ smiles break through in more serious moments. Being on set must have been a joy, especially Barbieland, which has the appearance of life-sized Barbie play sets (and Dreamhouses) with mobile painted backdrops. Much credit is due to Sarah Greenwood’s inventive production design, which literally caused a pink paint shortage, and Jacqueline Durran’s superb costumes. The visuals are intricately curated to feel alive yet with an intentional manufactured feel.
The biggest winner here is Gerwig, who defied the odds and managed to meet, if not succeed, our wildest expectations. Despite the obvious corporate consumer culture at the heart of the movie’s initial greenlight, Gerwig made sure Barbie is still a joyful cinematic experience. Let’s not give too much thought to the onslaught of similar brand IP movie adaptations to come after Barbie’s box office success. Instead, let’s celebrate and bask in the pink glow of this playful summer treat, which is more than kenough.
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Barbie opens in Bay Area theaters today.
