Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)
Star: We used to have fun. Remember that one time we went on a haunted hayride?
Barb: And we got chased by that man with a Jack-o’-lantern head and a chainsaw.
Star: And then we heard later he wasn’t an actor. He just escaped from the local prison.
Barb: He was a real killer.
Star: Killer. He was trying to kill us!
If like me you love the work of Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Saturday Night Live etc) then you should be excited for Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar as it showcases her at her funniest and coolest playing dual roles opposite her co-screenwriter Annie Mumolo.
Lifelong friends Barb (Mumolo) and Star (Wiig) embark on what just might be the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time ever. These two middle-aged wonders are superb comic creations. Barb - is a kind of everywoman riff on Melissa McCarthy's SPY character whilst Star is the positive energy nexus of lost hopes and dreams.
What follows is the kind of madcap movie that genre hops at ease - buddy comedy/romance/spy spoof thriller and erm part-time musical - there is something for every open-minded movie watcher on the planet here... Wiig hams it up as the baddie 'Sharon' - an albino with revenge on her mind...
'ordering cocktails from the pool'
Jamie Dornan is on hand as her shmuck agent, he's blinded by his love for her but she's just using him for her nefarious schemes. Sharon's other hench'man' is Yoyo (Reyn Doi) who steals many of the scenes he's in.
As Barb and Star's vacation in Vista Del Mar, tangles them up in a crazy adventure, they both kind of find love, and a villain's evil plot to kill everyone in town.
Dornan puts in some of his best-ever work here - singing, dancing and romancing like his life depends on it! He certainly wins the hearts of Barb and Star which causes some friction both between the sheets and in their friendship. And the comedy is everywhere - a personal highlight was musician Richard Cheese who is the restaurant entertainer, sitting at his piano and singing some slinky lounge-jazz songs that sound jolly but the lyrics are entirely about how much he loves 'boobs',
'you'll believe man can fly'
Throw in surreal elements like 'Morgan Freemond' as a monologuing crab, an Andy Garcia cameo, a swarm of killer mosquitos and a women's talking group which is run with a severe iron fist by Debbie (Vanessa Bayer). It all adds up to far more than the sum of its parts...
I picked Barb and Star for my B'day film this year - we watched it under the stars in a cosy cinema pod igloo which as superb fun and it really delivered. My wife laughed and grinned throughout and called it a 'joyous romp from start to finish' - hey I'll do the film reviews thanks.
Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:
ööööö
(5 - Essential viewing, a joyous romp from start to finish!!)
Awesomeness öööö – Really excellent scripting and plot elevates this romp
Laughs ööö – Darkly funny throughout
Horror ööö – Violent and menace aplenty
Spiritual Enlightenment öö - Can you say 'reprehensible?'
maybe click below to find out about my dark sci-fi novel...
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