Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) have sparked the interest of comedy lovers with “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” the latest cheery and bright film that is now available for purchase on Amazon Prime. Before deciding to look it up, Vista Del Mar is a real place in Florida; however, it’s a condominium site — not a vacation spot.
With the screenplay written by Mumolo and Wiig, the film highlights the writing and acting talents of these two women and sets expectations high. The movie could’ve gone in two directions — a silly stoner type of comedy or a more smart and sensible kind of humor. Seeing as Mumolo and Wiig previously created “Bridesmaids,” the audience might have expected this film to head down the latter path.
However, random musical numbers in the style of “Billy Madison” and science fiction elements that are reminiscent of “Austin Powers” make “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” a classic wacky movie. With its nonsensical storyline and plot holes, random bursts into song and talking crabs, the film is targeted towards fans of quirkier comedy. The film could have been more of a classic like “Bridesmaids” had it focused on the realistic side of Barb and Star’s friendship;” however, fans would be shocked to see that the film was headed in another direction after it takes an abrupt turn to science fiction within the first few minutes.
Photo provided by Barb and Star @BarbAndStar/Twitter.
It’s refreshing to see a Galentine’s Day movie around Valentine’s Day as opposed to the usual romantic comedy released at this time of the year. Although the movie is mostly based on nonsense, Wiig and Mumolo maintain a genuine connection throughout its course. The film’s strength is the friendship and overall demeanor of Barb and Star. From their hair to their accents, there was a natural comedy from their presence on screen. The film lacked humor with its plotline of the “evil” Wiig character, who inexplicably shares an exact resemblance to Star — obviously. But hey, that’s nonsensical wacky comedy, so it can’t be blamed for every plothole.
Edgar (Jamie Dornan) delivers a great performance, though there wasn’t much to it since he was meant to be the “straight man” of the movie. Therefore, he didn’t have much room to fully expand on the film’s comedic elements. However, his musical number was surprisingly funny as his stunt double was clearly not him, and his overly dramatic dancing was very humorous. Furthermore, the telling of Edgar’s villainous backstory was one of the funniest moments in the movie, as Barb and Star sneakily try to escape his capture in the most obvious way possible while pretending to listen to him.
Unfortunately, it seems this movie would’ve been funnier had it been viewed in a movie theatre with a laughing audience to emphasize the jokes. Since viewers will likely be watching this with only a few people at home, it lacks that communal element, which weakens the film as a whole. Many jokes fall flat, and there are many unnecessary running bits throughout the movie. However, that’s with the exception of the two best friends’ “idol” Trish as well as their trusty culottes to guide them.
Photo provided by Barb and Star @BarbAndStar/Twitter.
With a few callbacks to Wiig’s characters on “Saturday Night Live,” the film evokes comedic nostalgia for her fans. Though it differs greatly from the previous movie Mumolo and Wiig worked on together, it still has some nearly laugh-out-loud moments. But with a predecessor like “Bridesmaids,” the audience couldn’t help but acknowledge that “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” was a bit of a letdown.
“Bridesmaids” paved the way for future female-led comedies such as “Girls Trip,” “Booksmart” and “Bad Moms,” which is the same path that “Barb and Star” ended on. In the end, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” was a great movie for a specific audience, but likely a different audience from that of “Bridesmaids.” It’s still a feel-good kind of movie with a certain balance of ridiculousness and genuine love, but not necessarily the kind of movie that you’ll want to watch again next Valentine’s Day with your girlfriends. Instead, stick to Wiig and Mumolo’s classic work.
This post was originally published on the New University website. To find the original article, click here: https://www.newuniversity.org/2021/02/15/go-grab-a-trish-and-watch-barb-and-star-go-to-vista-del-mar/
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