Film review: ‘BARBIE’, by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

The Barbie movie has been one of the more intriguing events in recent popular culture.  The fact that it’s based on a doll designed for pre-tween children but has a trailer with adult humour and ideas, makes this a complex, uncertain and slightly unsettling prospect before the opening titles roll. Is this a cleverly subversive feminist satire of a female stereotypes and the patriarchal world that shapes them, a quirky celebration of a beloved childhood icon or a whopping great toy commercial?  Oddly enough it’s all of the above and it’s because of this incongruous mix that this is at once a fascinating, inventive but slightly disjointed film.

Directed by Greta Gerwig and written by Gerwig and husband Noah Baumbach, the film sees Barbie (Margot Robbie) as a living version of the iconic doll. Known as ‘Stereotypical Barbie’ she resides in a hypercolour utopia called Barbieworld where everyone is some variation of Barbie with doctors, supreme court justices and a President Barbie (Issa Rae).  It’s a world where women rule, where no one ages or becomes sick and where every night is girls’ night.  That suddenly changes when Robbie mysteriously becomes morose and introspective and begins contemplating both the meaning of life and something unknown to Barbies, death.  Even more alarmingly, her feet don’t stay in perpetual high heel posture and she starts to develop cellulite.  From the so-called ‘Weird Barbie’ (a punk haired Kate McKinnon) Robbie learns that the owner of her doll equivalent in the real world must be undergoing some sort of trauma that’s impacting her a bit like a voodoo doll. This sends Robbie on a quest into the real world – or at least LA – to try and find this girl and restore the perfection of Barbieworld.  To her horror she encounters a world where women don’t have the power and where she’s leered at by men and reviled as a sexist fantasy by young women such as Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) whose mother Gloria (America Ferrara) owns the plastic doll version of Robbie’s Barbie.  Unexpectedly joining Barbie on this journey, is the gormless Ken (Ryan Gosling) whose encounter with a male-dominated human world has dangerous implications for Barbieland.  Also, fearing the impact of Barbie’s exposure to the real world, the all-male Mattel corporate hierarchy, led by their CEO (Will Ferrell), try to put Barbie back in her box.

The film is often witty, energetic, insightful and surprisingly moving. It also contains some tantalising cultural references with apparent nods to Jacques Demy’s vividly stylised 1964 film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and even Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost.

Still, this film is often overly didactic, opting for speeches where a purely cinematic approach might have been more efficient and effective.  It’s also at times tonally inconsistent as potent and perceptive feminist observations run headlong into zany humour that doesn’t always work. Consequently, this ambitious film occasionally feels forced, a little like a very elaborate and expensive Saturday Night Live sketch about Barbie encountering feminism.  The political intention is very welcome but the delivery is mixed.

There’s also the gnawing question of whether we’re ultimately watching a toy commercial and a re-branding.  Despite its satirical depiction of toy company Mattel, the film’s heroine is, in our world, their product. Also, the film vividly emphasises Barbie’s (and Ken’s) accessorised wardrobe within its admittedly stunning realisation of Barbieland.

For the most part, though, this film triumphs more than it stumbles and that is largely due to the two leads.  Margot Robbie is typically wonderful as a sort of blonde female version of Voltaire’s Candide.  She subtly projects layers of emotional complexity beneath an idealised surface and makes us care about Barbie.  The film occasionally laughs at or scolds Barbie but crucially, for the most part, it champions her.  In slightly ironic fashion, though, Ryan Gosling just about steals the film.  He seems born to play Ken and sinks his gleaming white teeth into the role, perfectly depicting the ludicrousness of male vanity and ‘bro culture’. Through him the film enters some pretty weird comical territory but he plays it so convincingly the film never spins out of control.

Barbie will leave a few audience members scratching their heads, will hopefully infuriate some but should delight most who venture into its world of pink power.

Nick’s rating: ***1/2.

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Classification: PG.

Director(s): Greta Gerwig.

Release date: 20th July 2023..

Running time: 114 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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