Barb and Star (Movie Review)

The best of Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo comes together in this gleefully absurd comedy about middle-aged BFFs Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) who decide to go on vacation. But their getaway turns out to be anything but relaxing.

They encounter the charmingly hunky Edgar Paget (Jamie Dornan), an undercover spy who has a deadly mission to kill everyone in Vista Del Mar, Florida. It's up to Barb and Star to save their town.

The plot

Barb (Kristen Wiig) and Star (Annie Mumolo), two middle-aged, Midwestern best friends, decide to leave their hometown for a vacation. They arrive at the posh Vista Del Mar resort in Florida. The girls discover sea-shell bracelets, hook up with mysterious Edgar Paget (Jamie Dornan) and accidentally get caught in a murder plot involving super mosquitoes!

The film is directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Bridesmaids co-writer Kristen Wiig and Clown Girl director Annie Mumolo. It stars the pair as well as Damon Wayans Jr., Fortune Feimster and Jamie Dornan, a former child actor who’s made his name playing a young Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades franchise.

As if that weren’t enough to make you laugh, the movie also features a plot involving a supervillain who’s trying to destroy her sexy, boomer-friendly resort in the town of Vista Del Mar during its annual Seafood Jam. The villain, Sharon Gordon Fisherman (Wiig), hires her loyal henchman Edgar Paget to carry out the plan.

Once Barb and Star meet Edgar, they bond with him and begin to party. Despite the warnings of Sharon, they continue to have an affair.

But before they can move on to their secret tryst, Star overhears that Sharon is planning a revenge plot against her. She calls her agent, Darlie Bunkle (Wendi McLendon-Covey), who sends another beacon to Edgar and spy on him, Barb, and Star.

It turns out that Darlie, in a bit of misdirection, reveals that Barb and Star are actually spies. And that she and Darlie are using photos sent to them by Sharon from Darlie’s girlfriend, Darlie’s sister, Trish (Wendi McLendon-Covey).

Then Sharon gets jealous, and decides to kill her enemies by killing them all. This enlists the help of Yoyo, a child sidekick played by Reyn Doi.

The rest of the movie consists of a series of jokes, recurring gags and even some musical numbers. Whether the comedy works or not, it’s a lot of fun to watch. And it’s an excellent example of what a comedy can be when you’re just having fun.

The characters

Barb and Star (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) are a pair of middle-aged best friends who live in an unnamed Midwestern town. They've both been through romantic trauma; Star's husband left her for another woman, and Barb's husband died in a tragic rodeo accident.

Despite the fact that both of their spouses have abandoned them, they still have a strong bond and keep up a weekly "talking club" that includes strict guidelines about what's allowed and not allowed. In addition, they work together at Jennifer Convertibles, a furniture store that's known for its floor-model love seats.

But when their boss tells them the store is closing, they decide to leave the town for a tropical getaway in Vista Del Mar. They meet Sharon Gordon Fisherman, who's in the midst of her revenge against Barb and Star for humiliating her in high school at the local Seafood Jam festival.

It's a familiar plot, but one that's bolstered by some refreshingly non-judgmental comedy sensibilities. The film eschews the dispiriting punch-down humor that so many of the sappy and overtly misogynistic comedies rely on. Instead, it's a sweet and affectionate parody of best friend comedies, romantic comedies, spy movies, and musicals—all of which it genuinely loves.

The most impressive aspect of the comedy is that it doesn't feel out of place in our culture, even in 2021. The characters are clearly a product of their time. They have quirky accents and are frequently referred to as "Middle America." The script does a good job of portraying the duo's relationship as an extension of their friendship rather than an attempt to make them seem like they're more like their husbands or fathers.

For instance, a running gag revolves around Star thinking she's hideously unattractive because her ex-husband left her for another woman. However, most of the men at the resort think she's beautiful, and a younger, undeniably attractive Edgar falls hopelessly in love with her.

There's also a lot of humor about how they feel like they're constantly on the go, whether it's getting ready to go on a banana ride or dealing with travel diarrhea. The two women are especially fond of their imaginary friend Trish, who has skin cancer and bravely faces death by walking off a cliff to become one with the ocean.

The music

Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) are lifelong best friends with shellacked hair and chipper personalities who love culottes, seashell trinkets, gals named Trish, finding their inner phoenix, and friendship. When they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time, they start their journey by heading to Florida where they discover that they can find a new lease on life through their travels and the people they meet along the way.

The comedy reunites Bridesmaids screenwriters Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo who play dual roles as Barb and Star respectively, their chemistry carrying them through the glitzy, goofy adventure of a lifetime. Directed by Josh Greenbaum, the film is a gleefully absurd comic journey that has its moments and will be remembered fondly long after it has left the theater.

In this bizarro comedy, two middle-aged women who have never left their town embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to take an extended vacation to Vista Del Mar, a resort in Florida. They meet a friend (Wendi McLendon-Covey) who’s glowing after a midlife-changing vacation and the two best friends set out on their own adventures, a trip that will teach them about self-discovery and the power of friendship.

While they make a good pair of pals, the plot is somewhat bloated and convoluted. The pacing does suffer, and the emotional beats can get a bit over the top. However, it is still a good movie that will be enjoyed by most audiences.

There are a few jokes that don’t quite land, but they are well written and delivered by the cast. There’s a very clever gag where Barb believes she is hideously unattractive, but it turns out that lots of people think she’s attractive, from men to Edgar (Jamie Dornan) to Sharon Gordon Fisherman, and even Carmine, her ex-husband.

When the characters are confronted with a super villain who wants to destroy them, they come up with a solution that’s not only hilarious but also genuinely touching. In the end, it’s a sweet story of friends helping friends that’s a welcome breath of fresh air for a stale genre.

The editing

Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) are Midwestern BFFs whose lives change after they're fired from their dream job and ostracized by their "talking club." After an emotional breakdown, they decide to get away from it all and go on vacation. It's a decision that proves to be both wise and disastrous as they find themselves swept up in a criminal plot by Sharon Gordon Fisherman (Wiig), an unsavory super-villain who seeks to destroy the beachside town of Vista Del Mar, Florida.

As a comedy, Barb and Star is remarkably unlike anything else out there. For one thing, the film was written by Wiig and Mumolo, not the screenplay editors who normally cobble together the jokes from a script. That's a brave move, to be sure, especially when you're trying to make a 107-minute film.

Then there's the style. The film uses a lot of tacky colors, shiny surfaces and goofy shapes in its visual design. Its aesthetic is sometimes extremely effective, like when Barb and Star arrive at the hotel of their dreams: a riot of appalling pinks. It's a great example of how editing and cinematography can be used to pull an ambitious project off.

This is also the first time Wiig and Mumolo have teamed up since 2011's Bridesmaids, so it's an exciting debut for both. It's also a rare chance for them to show off their comedic range, something they did not have in their earlier work.

Ultimately, though, the movie is more about its characters than it is about the plot. While some of the humor may strike some viewers as a little harsh (there's one joke that pokes fun at women's haircuts, jewelry choices and wardrobe), it's generally quite affectionate. It's a more endearing and palatable film than Ferrell has made in recent years, albeit not in the same quality as his Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby or Step Brothers.

The film's editing, led by Steve Welch, does a superb job of keeping the pace steady and avoiding staleness. A number of long-running comedy sequences are broken up with more mundane goings-on, to keep the pace moving without the movie sacrificing any of its zaniness. There's even a good example of when Welch splices shots to alter the rhythm and length of a scene, such as when Barb and Star talk about their friendship in a montage sequence.