Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar is one of those totally crazy and ridiculous comedies and it has absolutely no right to be as good as it is, but somehow Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar manages to be totally hilarious. I can't remember the last time I laughed this much in the past few years, but Barb & Star really is so much fun!
As the title of the film suggests, the film is about two friends, named Barb and Star, who decide to take a trip to the fictional Vista Del Mar in Florida. Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) have never left their small Midwestern town before but after seeing their friend return from the fabulous Vista Del Mar, the pair decide to take a trip together and all sorts of chaos ensues. The film sees the Bridesmaids co-stars and co-writers re-unite again to create another hilarious comedy.
Towards the start of the film they were already setting up a villainous plot involving killer mosquitoes, and it feels a mess. Expecting something more generic, the first twenty minutes, seems to come out of leftfield. Perhaps with a second watch, the opening would improve, but the villainous subplot of the film is definitely the weakest area.
However, after about twenty minutes, Barb and Star, finally decide to go to Vista Del Mar. And this is when things begin to get good. Once the duo arrives in Vista Del Mar, there's a magical musical number and the film really starts to turn around. From this point onwards, it became a laugh a minute. Vista Del Mar is full of bright and vibrant colours that pop out at you and it really makes you want to go to Vista Del Mar. And it's not just the viewer that wants to go there as partway through filming, Jamie Dornan asked “Did we look into filming in Vista Del Mar, the real place?” but alas there is no such place.
Unknown to Barb and Star, there is an evil plot afoot as Jamie Dornan plays an evil henchman to a rather unique villain who suffers from ‘pigmentatia degenera hysterica white skinaka' which basically means she's allergic to the sun. Whilst a lot of the laughs come from Barb and Star, the film's standout scene definitely comes from Jamie Dornan. Dornan's character has a musical number that's on a par with 2016's hit musical film- no not La La Land but Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Barb & Star definitely felt very similar to the Lonely Island's mockumentary Popstar in the sense that it has this totally zany and wacky sense of humour that you can very easily disregard but if the film clicks with you, it really clicks and you can have a great time with it.
Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar is a film that will elicit one of two reactions. You'll either be sat there thinking ‘What on earth am I watching' or you will be laughing your head having an absolute blast of a time. Hopefully, like me, you'll fall under the latter and have so much fun watching it, laughing so many times. It will be a divisive film that's not for everyone but just try to engage with it and you will be rewarded.
If you're happy to go along with Barb and Star on this weird, wacky, wonderful adventure, you'll have an absolute ball! And besides, what film isn't improved by a club remix of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On?
Dir: Josh Greenbaum
Scr: Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
Cast: Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig, Jamie Dornan
Prd: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
DOP: Toby Oliver
Music: Christopher Lennertz, Dara Taylor
Country: USA
Year: 2021
Runtime: 106 mins
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar will be available everywhere you rent movies from Friday February 12th
