Tonight's Movie: Barbie (2023)

It's been quite a month for the movie business, with strikes on the one hand and big releases such as MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (2023), OPPENHEIMER (2023), and BARBIE (2023) on the other.

Given that just three years ago there was serious discussion about whether movie theaters would survive, the huge buzz around these movies is wonderfully reassuring; at the same time, the strikes, and related AI issues, add fresh uncertainty to the business.

I loved MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE and will be reviewing it soon; it's been a busy few days!  (Update: Here is the review.)  I saw BARBIE today and quite enjoyed it.

BARBIE has been touted as a very original film, albeit heavily inspired by classic movies -- more on that below -- but I'll say at the outset that in many ways BARBIE feels like a spin on a wonderful film from nearly a decade ago, THE LEGO MOVIE (2014). BARBIE has the equivalent of the LEGO film's opening "Everything is Awesome" sequence celebrating a perfect (if conformist) life and it also features the multilevel concept of toys being impacted by the humans playing with them; both movies even feature Will Ferrell.

That said, BARBIE has fantastic unique visual style and a story that is surprisingly deep for a movie about plastic dolls. The connections classic film fans can make with many older films is the cherry on top of the viewing sundae.

The stage is set by narrator Helen Mirren introducing us to Barbie (Margot Robbie), who lives in Barbie Land. This Barbie is a "Stereotypical Barbie" in that she's a basic model without any special skills, like her neighbors President Barbie or Doctor Barbie. She lives in a world filled with Barbies, and also many Kens, including versions played by Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu (SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS). The Barbies believe that their existence has solved issues surrounding feminism and equal rights in the "Real World" outside Barbie Land.

One evening Barbie is hosting a dance party and suddenly shocks her fellow Barbies when she blurts out "Do you ever think about death?" Barbie has no idea what prompted that thought to enter her perfect Eden-like existence; from there her world starts falling apart, sending her in search of answers and eventually to the Real World.

Ultimately Barbie realizes that neither the Real World or Barbie Land is perfect, but they each can be imperfectly wonderful.

BARBIE has some delightful humor to go along with the fantastic visual design -- bits about Barbie's feet are hysterical -- and the design alone is enough to recommend the movie. Classic film references abound, from THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) to the multicolored dances of THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1967) to Robbie's hairstyles being inspired by Catherine Deneuve in THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964).

During the wonderful "I'm Just Ken" musical number late in the film, with the black-clad Kens dancing against a pale blue background, I started thinking of the dream ballet inside the "Broadway Melody" sequence in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952); then I wondered if I was stretching things making that connection. Nope -- it turns out writer-director Greta Gerwig (who cowrote the film with Noah Baumbach) has specifically cited that SINGIN' IN THE RAIN dance as one of her inspirations.

Gerwig has also mentioned AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) and the scene where Gene Kelly gets up in the morning as an inspiration for Barbie's morning routine; as referenced earlier, I also feel like she must have seen THE LEGO MOVIE. It would be interesting to know for sure.

My favorite moment might have been a scene which is pure "Barbie"; Barbie slides down a pool slide from the top of her house and then walks across the plastic pool water. It plays as though she's being moved by a child's unseen hands and is utter perfection.

Some have complained that the movie makes men, in the form of Kens, appear to be worthless or controlling, but that's missing the point, which is that the Kens have been ignored and undervalued. (It's "Barbie AND Ken," after all, not simply "Ken.") While the film goes a little far portraying Ken's evolution -- the continual use of the word "patriarchy" gets rather annoying -- if you dig beyond that, the movie ultimately has good things to say about everyone, male and female, being unique, with inherent value. The film is also a moving meditation on what it means to be human.

BARBIE also has positive messages about repairing relationships, including a "Real World" mother, Gloria (America Ferrera), and her teenage daughter Sasha (Arianna Greenblatt). (One of the movie's cute jokes is that when their husband and father appears he's always practicing Duolingo Spanish. Actor Ryan Piers Williams is listed in the credits as playing "El Esposo de Gloria.") Ferrera is very good although I'm probably in the minority that her big "feminist" speech didn't work for me -- she passionately unspools a bunch of familiar "woe is me" tropes and I'm sorry, life as a woman just isn't that hard; if it is maybe one needs to look inward.

That said, most of the film works very well indeed and it's a worthwhile viewing experience from the creative, thoughtful director of LADY BIRD (2017) and LITTLE WOMEN (2019).

Robbie perfectly captures Barbie's sunny charm and ultimately her humanity; the actress is simultaneously giddy and moving. Likewise, Gosling as the insecure Ken wavers between being hilarious and touching. Some have mentioned Gosling as being an Oscar candidate for this performance, and I think one can certainly make the case for it.

The movie runs 114 minutes. It was filmed by Rodrigo Prieto.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. Despite the film using Barbies to tell its story, this is not a children's film; indeed, one of its differences from THE LEGO MOVIE was that THE LEGO MOVIE was family-friendly. There are some off-color jokes, including about the dolls' bodies, which I didn't enjoy. I'd say the rating being for teens and up is just right, although I suspect a great many younger children will be going to see it simply because it's about Barbie.

A trailer is here.

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