by Kevin Muller

As with this year’s The Super Mario Brothers, you can say the title character’s name Barbie and everyone, boys or girls, will know who you are talking about. While there have been countless animated films, this is her first foray into live action. Greta Gerwig oversees directing duties, while she shares a writing credit with her real-life partner Noah Baumbach. Four years ago, she put her own spin on the classic tale Little Women, too much success. Is she capable of bringing her skill to make this long-awaited film work?

Life is great for “Stereotypical Barbie,” played by Margot Robbie. She lives in an immaculate pink Barbie house, rides around in a classic Barbie car, and is dressed to the nine in the best of Barbie clothes. One day, everything starts to fall apart when Barbie loses her glow, feels depressed, thinks about death, becomes flat footed, and develops cellulite! Desperate to find answers, which she does from Weird Barbie, played hilariously by Kate McKinnon, she is told to go into the real world and find her person. Based upon the rules of the world, every Barbie is emotionally connected to their human. The mentality of that person is reflected in that person’s Barbie. Along for the ride is Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, who yearns for Barbie’s attention. Once they enter the real world, certain rules that benefit Barbie disappear, while Ken prospers.

The film’s creativity is off the charts. From the start, Gerwig has so much fun using the Barbie template. The world is beautifully realized by her production team. In the opening 30 minutes, much of the fun comes from recognizing and being impressed with the amount of work that went into the production design. That shouldn’t take away from the snappy dialogue that Gerwig and Bambauch bestow upon us. It is the perfect mix of parody and light-heartedness that draws the viewer in. Robbie, who is an obvious beauty, turns in a great comedic performance as a naïve fish out of water.   Additionally, she can bring depth to the role. Much of her journey consists of realizing that her view of herself, as a source of good, isn’t matched by today’s youth. She is criticized for representing an unrealistic standard of beauty and part of the corporate game. It is there where Barbie has an existential crisis. Robbie makes us feel for her through an excellent use of vulnerability. The actress, who also acts as the producer of the film, puts her heart and soul into both the character and the film.

Unlike Barbie’s emotional crisis, Ken’s journey is a bit more on the positive side and it is where the film draws on its theme of gender roles. When he is in the Barbie world, he is powerless, but in the real world, he starts to see that men have all the power. Gerwig and Baumbach use the middle and end of the film to show us their feelings on patriarchy. Ken and Barbie do go back, but the identity of her world changes. Ken overdoes the idea of a male dominated society and makes the world tacky. It is an innovative way to show how men can take a good idea and both misunderstand and misuse it. Gosling is a great choice to portray a boneheaded muscle-head that misunderstands the layers of any idea. The film has been criticized for making Ken out to be an idiot. Somehow the concept of a dimwitted male is something that seems foreign to many people. Unfortunately, Gerwig loses the subtle nature of this commentary. The latter half of the film feels overly preachy to the point of annoyance.   If Gerwig pulled back, it would’ve been a more precise look at the ridiculousness of extreme gender roles. That said, there are many parts of it that feel genuine in its tribute to women.

Despite its soapbox tendencies, Barbie is an extremely fun and creative film. Gerwig, who directed 2017’s Lady Bird and 2019’s Little Women, shows us that she can create interesting takes on motherhood, sisterhood, and now girl power. The forty-year-old writer and director is just getting started and we should all be happy with what comes next.

I am giving Barbie a 4 out of 5 Hairpieces!