'Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar' film review: Sun-kissed, silly ode to middle-aged lunacy
If the Target Lady and her folksy bestie got their groove back while trying to stop a crazy revenge scheme, it would look like the utterly absurd comedy 'Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar' (available on VOD starting Feb. 12).
In short: Lifelong friends Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) leave their small Midwestern town for the first time when they sucked into a love triangle and a villainous plot to destroy a town.
Barb and Star seemingly sharing one mind - they're inseparable and seemingly locked in the same wavelength. With their voluminous hair and wardrobe by Talbots, the two besties prattle on seemingly oblivious to the world around them. They are the flyover states incarnate: tragically uncool, dowdy middle-aged women weirdly obsessed with culottes and socks with toes. 'Barb and Star' would have collapsed under the weight of of its ludicrous humor were it not for the fact that these two perfectly nonsensible women are, first and foremost, dear and lovely friends.
The fact that Wiig and Mumolo are totally committed to their charming, if daft, characters just lays the foundation for this bonkers and silly romp. Filled with insanely hilarious non sequiturs and flat out bizarre plot turns, 'Barb and Star' is a hysterical and confidently weird flick. It feels a bit unfair to say Barb and Star seem like they were lifted straight out of a long-running 'SNL' skit, but this comedy drops the two delightfully eccentric characters into a completely ridiculous misadventure involving killer mosquitos, talking crabs and a mermaid.
If there's any major issue with 'Barb and Star,' it's that the two main characters, by design, have very few discernible character differences. It's literally hard to tell the two apart. They even sound the same - like either Wiig or Mumolo could have delivered lines for either character. Even as the two characters branch off into their own subplots, the characters still sound and act almost interchangeably.
Despite however brazenly strange 'Barb and Star' becomes, the comedy earns remains firmly rooted in the duo's friendship and their embrace for a new adventure This allows the hyperbolic comedy to randomly burst out into musical numbers or go full on drug trip. The comedy is allowed to get super weird because, at its core, 'Barb and Star' is the story of two otherwise unremarkable friends making the choice to embrace something new and exciting and totally outside the comfort of their middle America small town. It's just super fulfilling that their adventure is a total hoot.
Final verdict: 'Barb and Star' is pure, unabashed lunacy - a gonzo friendship comedy that is joyously, wonderfully silly and stupid at every turn.
Score: 4/5
'Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar' is available on VOD starting Feb. 12. This comedy is rated PG-13 for crude sexual content, drug use and some strong language and has a running time of 107 minutes.
Directed by Josh Greenbaum / Screenplay by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig / Music by Christopher Lennertz & Dara Taylor / Cinematography by Toby Oliver / Editing by Steve Welch / Starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Jamie Dornan and Damon Wayans Jr.
