Remember coronavirus? It stole this masterpiece from us
In this column, we deliver hot (and cold) takes on pop culture, judging whether a subject is overrated or underrated.
By Sarah Thomas
I think one of my favourite gags in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is the fictional Floridian resort’s lounge singer, Richard Cheese (snerk), and his ode to the female form, I Love Boobies. “I love gazongas / I love knockers / And chimichangas / I love melons and bon-bons and winnebagos / I’ll take a big chest of shirt potatoes / ’Cause I love boobs,” he sings in the hotel bar.
Far from mere crass objectification, it is everything I love about the Barb and Star movie.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is the technicolour tropical joy we all missed out on.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
As the camera casually pans across the sight of Cheese’s Liberace pastiche at his piano with his jaunty mammary anthem, it is ridiculously over-the-top, hammy, non-threatening and just plain daft. And it’s only one part of this particular scene: like the entire movie, everything is so joke-laden that each viewing throws up new gems you may have missed the time before.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is a heart-burstingly colourful treasure chest of joy, silliness and shell jewellery, but during early coronavirus it unfortunately got lost and thus totally overlooked. This comedy about, in the simplest of terms, friendship, was set for release in 2020, but eventually limped through to streaming services the following year, denying it the sparkly spotlight it truly deserved. (It’s currently streaming on Stan, which is owned by Nine, which also owns this masthead.)
But if you ever feel like you need a dazzling, all-singing, all-dancing tropical holiday with two lovely ladies who rediscover their shimmer in life, then Barb and Star are here for you.
A real tit-flapper of a film: Annie Mumolo as Barb and Kristen Wiig as Star.Credit: Cate Cameron
US comedians Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo created and star as the two middle-aged, fluffy-haired, small-town Nebraskan women who are suddenly inspired to shake up their existence beyond sofa stores and hot-dog soup. In Vista Del Mar, they discover a wonderful world of heightened coral and aqua colours and shrimp festivals, as they each push their boundaries in new ways after fearing they were “fading away”.
But let’s not compartmentalise this as a chick flick where invisible women find their power again – that’s belittling and not the main vibe of the movie. It’s all about fun and adventure, and having an excuse at every turn to make preposterous and nonsensical jokes, with a side order of appreciation for resortwear and beach souvenirs.
Wiig and Mumolo are long-time collaborators who cut their teeth many moons ago at Los Angeles improv group the Groundlings and, among their many achievements, wrote another stellar comedy about friendship in 2011’s ground-breaking hit Bridesmaids. At the heart of the charm of the Barb and Star film is their connective force and effortless blending as kindred, familiar spirits, with comedic chops touching every button from slapstick through to the wry.
With its musical numbers, sensory overload in production and costume design, random bonkers-ness like the talking, advice-giving sage crab who sounds like Morgan Freeman, and Wiig doubling up in full panto-garb as a villain intent on launching a deadly mosquito attack on Vista Del Mar, there is a lot going on here.
It’s helmed by director Josh Greenbaum – who has another out-of-the-box film coming out this month in Strays, an R-rated talking dog comedy voiced by Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx – who carefully steers this fast-moving good ship along.
But the absolute key to the film’s joy is Wiig and Mumolo. While gently poking fun at our heroines with their pouffy hair, clipped Nebraskan vowels and their love of culottes and sequinned trims, they embrace them with warmth, respect and affection as they go on this life-changing chapter.
We see Barb (Mumolo) motorbike-jumping across canyons and doing drum circles, and moving on from the death of her husband in a Black Friday-sale stampede. Or Star (Wiig) discovering a new era of sex positivity with Edgar (Jamie Dornan). “Dearest Edgar,” she writes the next day. “I hope you remember me. I’m the disgusting woman from last night,” she says with pride.
Back to that mosquito plot – to be honest, it doesn’t really matter. The big picture here is enjoying the ride with our two friends. It’s a movie with a big heart and kindness. It reminds me of Schitt’s Creek in its gentle nurturing of good people – and like that show, if anyone tells you they don’t like it, they have no soul and should not be trusted, or at the very least have their streaming privileges withdrawn.
It’s not a spoiler to say Barb and Star have a happy ending – would you expect otherwise? – and it ends where it began, as a celebration of their friendship.
But, after a holiday and a little love and adventure, it is a friendship cemented at the movie’s finale with the pinnacle of a Vista Del Mar trip: an exhilarating ride on a banana boat. For Barb and Star, their newfound courage and their journey has been exactly how the boat ride is advertised, “a real tit-flapper”. And we should absolutely love them for it.
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