Stubs - Barbie

Barbie (2023) starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Rhea Perlman Narrator: Helen Mirren. Directed by Greta Gerwig. Screenplay by Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach. Based on Barbie by Mattel. Produced by David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Robbie Brenner. Run time: 114 minutes. Color. USA. Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure

Note: This review contains spoilers for Barbie.

The summer of 2023 may well be remembered as the summer of Barbie, as it, perhaps surprisingly, turned out to be the biggest movie of the year. The film’s boffo box office, which is already over $1 Billion worldwide when this is written, had a bit of a built-in audience as it is based on the iconic fashion doll invented by Ruth Handler in 1959, with over a billion sold to date.

The film, which originated at Universal Pictures in 2009, made a pit stop at Sony Pictures before landing at Warner Bros. in 2018. The lead actress also changed, with Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway being considered before Margot Robbie was cast in 2019. Greta Gerwig came on board in 2021 along with co-writer Noah Baumbach. The film went into production in March 2022 and hit theaters on July 21, 2023. The film shared a release date with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, bringing about the nickname "Barbenheimer" to describe the weekend the two films opened. They are sort of linked going forward.

Ken (Ryan Gosling) and Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie).

It should come as no surprise that the film centers around Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie), who lives in her Malibu Dream House in Barbieland with other Barbies and other Barbie dolls, like Ken (Ryan Gosling). While there are several versions of Barbie, including career Barbies and multicultural Barbies and Kens, there are also discontinued dolls from the Barbie line, including Midge (Emerald Fennell) and one Allan (Michael Cera).

Every day is the best day ever and every night is Girl’s Night. That is, if you’re a Barbie or another female doll in the line. The men, our Ken in particular, is frustrated. He’s nothing without Barbie and she never seems to give him the time of day. Wasn’t he supposed to be her boyfriend?

But the perfect days end for Barbie when she starts reflecting the thoughts of the human playing with her in the real world. A trip, which involves a variety of transportation methods, takes Barbie, and stowaway Ken, to the real world. She discovers the pain in the heart of Gloria (America Ferrera), a mother who has been playing with her daughter Sasha’s (Ariana Greenblatt) old Barbie.

Ken, who is left to his own devices, discovers the patriarchy, which he thinks has something to do with horses, and heads back to Barbieland, where things change abruptly.

Meanwhile, Mattel finds out a Barbie doll has come to the real world and CEO (Will Ferrell) is determined to make things right.

Everything comes to a head back in Barbieland, where everything must be made right again.

Barbieland is run as a matriarchy.

The film is surprisingly political, with Ken’s idea of a patriarchy seen as bad while Barbieland’s matriarchy, in which women hold all the jobs and positions of leadership, is seen as good and the way things ought to be. Men don’t seem to have a real purpose in society or any real skills. While the film has a chance to show that the best way is when society is neither patriarchal or matriarchal but rather egalitarian, it does not. In the end, the Kens and Allan are kept in their place, which is out of the power structure; that’s presented as a good thing.

One thing that helps the film is its sense of humor, with several funny lines coming from the Narrator (Helen Mirren).

Since the film is a fantasy, it manages to get away with things that it’s best not to think too hard about, especially the odd portal that links Barbieland with the Real World, or if every Barbie has a human counterpart why isn’t Barbieland overcrowded or have duplicates running around since the dolls themselves are mass produced?

Barbie looks out over Barbieland.

The film really excels at the look and feel of Barbieland. You get a real sense of place and the feeling that the houses are really made of plastic. When awards season rolls around, the film should be a contender for Art Direction, Production Design and Costume Design.

The acting for the most part is good, though pretending to be a doll doesn’t allow for a lot of range. That said, Margot Robbie seems to be perfectly cast as Barbie, as she has the look and stature of the iconic fashion doll. Ryan Gosling isn’t quite as on the money as Ken, but he is definitely a more complex character. I doubt either will be remembered when the acting awards are announced unless it comes down to a popularity contest and the biggest film wins.

Will Ferrell gives a subdued performance as the Mattel CEO. He can still be funny without going completely over the top. The same can be said for fellow SNL alum, Kate McKinnon, who plays Weird Barbie, a sort of mentor to Stereotypical Barbie.

I’ve never been a fan of America Ferrera, mostly because I haven’t watched a lot of her work. As an actress with a little maturity, I think she does a good job as Gloria, the human mother who is going through some tough times personally.

If there’s one actor that might be awarded, I think Rhea Perlman’s turn as the ghost of Ruth Handler may be in line for at least a Supporting Actress nom.

Director Greta Gerwig got a lot of attention with Lady Bird (2017), earning three Academy nominations including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Director for the story of a young woman trying to find out where she fits in the world. In some ways, Barbie treads along some of the same steps, but just not as well despite a much bigger budget.

Now, the question, would I recommend the film? When a movie blows up and becomes a cultural phenomenon, like Barbie has this summer, you sort of want to see it for yourself to see what all the fuss is about. That’s part of the reason why I went. However, I can honestly say that this is not a film I would pay to see again in the theaters.