Complexity be Damned for Delight
What Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar lacks in complex plot points, it makes up for tremendously with story and character.
The plot is nothing we haven’t seen before, two friends, after losing everything they had tying them to the “old world,” seize the call to action, venture out and meet a man, that man gets between them and causes some lying and sneaking around, which reaches a peak, inciting a breakdown in their friendship.
Then, after having their lives threatened, they are forced to work together, and in facing death, make up by pouring out the truth. And so, in the face of great danger, there is triumph and growth, and a freshly emboldened bond between them.
This is nothing new. There isn’t much mystery under the hood of this movie.
It’s the astoundingly original layers of the story, character, candy-colored set and setting, lively design, cartoonish gimmicks, and a couple of musical numbers that make this film a must-see summer fanta-sea!
Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) are ultra-nice small town gals and best friends from Nebraska who live together, hilariously introduced sitting on a floor model sofa at the “hottest place in town,” where they work (a furniture store called Jennifer Convertibles). Their conversation about smelly people in period movies delightfully cut with various shots of their feet, mug, hair-dos, and necklace bopping to the beat of a Shania Twain hit.
This film is a delight with these two in their prime – it’s comedic style is a triumph!
It’s just what we expect and want from Wiig, who shines with her trademark facial expressions and use of space, never-flailing Midwest accent, and perfectly timed delivery. She plays beautifully with Mumolo’s more reluctant yet upbeat and uniquely kind, if not a little naïve, mid-western characterization.
Set these lovely ladies loose in Vista Del Mar, and you’ve got a wild experience before you, where they embrace the pleasures of life as they come, drinking a fish bowl of booze and swallowing the “buried treasure” at the bottom, buying up various chachkies, and going on a number tropical excursions.
What makes them so lovable and accessible, I think, is their inability to be anything other than themselves. Star will tell you herself she’s ugly and that’s probably why her husband left her, and she’s accepted that.
At the center of this wildly hilarious film is a friendship. Tested by a man who comes between them and eventually prefers Star.
Well, Barb goes off and decides she’s not going to wait around anymore, and she reaps the rewards, an enlightening encounter with the Tommy Bahama (Andy Garcia), in the tropical flesh! But, arguably Star gets the better deal, with all of the sex and boat rides with this sexy and mysterious Edgar guy (Jamie Dornan), who begins to change his mind about his boss/would-be-lover and her evil plan. Oolala!
Until of course the lying and sneaking around catches up with them. They start to fight and decidedly hate each other and never want to see each other again (even in heaven).
An Evil Twist
When Sharon Gordon Fisherman’s (also Wiig) evil plan to get revenge on Vista Del Mar for the ultimate childhood embarrassment by killing everyone there with deadly mosquitos is revealed to Barb and Star – oh no!
Sharon puts them between a cliff and hungry prehistoric animals forcing our gal pals to realize it’s friendship, L-O-V-E, and maybe even culottes, the very things this evil temptress queen of poisonous mosquitos lacks and wants so badly, that must prevail.
You see – it’s Sharon Gordon Fisherman’s lack of friendship that allow Barb and Star to overcome their dishonesty, to see that they need each other, no matter the circumstance and that no M-A-N can come between them.
This rather odd evil subplot doesn’t appear to make total sense on the surface, though I believe it may raise the stakes for our favorite ladies’ trip, and even assert a bigger message about love and friendship.
Fortified Friendship and a Message
The fact that Barb and Star are able to resolve their dispute with honesty, love, and friendship, and manage to save Vista Del Mar and Sharon Gordon Fisherman elevates the idea that goodness can overcome our most malign problems.
It asserts that good old fashioned kindness and human decency can help solve our conflicts.
That’s a feel-good message I can get down with and an easy one to grasp at that. It promotes kindness, and I think that this is a worthy value to espouse with comedy.
Also, there’s nothing quite like Morgan Freeman singing his swan song as a crab, never to return to the shore again or Reba McEntire saving the gurrrls as a mermaid named Trish.
Easily one of this summer’s (well, February’s) top films that you might’ve missed out on during its initial release. Don’t fret, rent this baby up, make a drink, sit back, relax, and prepare yourself for a real tit-flapper.
Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Writers: Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
Images Courtesy of Lionsgate/Photographer Cate Cameron
