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Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar Movie Review

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar is a 2021 comedy film directed by Josh Greenbaum and starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo and Jamie Dornan. It will be a cult classic.

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“Even drove an old lady around,

thought her about tolerance and true friendship“

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Two best friends travel to Florida on a vacation. There, they have to deal with a villain and her dangerous plot. This movie felt misplaced in this current age of cynicism and utter lack of humor and fun. The 80s cartoon references are lovely, the entire villain subplot is hilarious how goofy and silly it is while the central characters are wonderful.

Kristen Wiig is fantastic per usual and she plays a double role here, both she plays effortlessly. The villain has memorable looks and her ridiculous backstory was so funny. That flashback made me laugh out loud. The titular Barb and Star are such a great duo. The strong friendship angle is once again present here, thus being pleasantly reminiscent of ‘Bridesmaids’. The two are quirky, amusing and so much fun in their goofy dialogue exchange. Annie Mumolo is excellent.

Jamie Dornan is also surprisingly good. Nobody had expected him to be in a comedy, but he did such a good job that his career should definitely go in that direction onward. His henchman character is very endearing. The song that he sings is so good and catchy. That entire sequence is pleasantly silly, funny and phenomenally filmed.

The entire soundtrack in Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar is terrific. They used quite a lot of songs from Bertie Higgins, the highlight being Florida. The movie is bright, colorful and exceedingly silly in the second half that was also overly complicated with too many characters and subplots, thus the first half was definitely stronger and it flowed better.

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But the humor is so good that I was laughing on more than one occasion. That Morgan Freeman crab was hysterical with the lines there being instantly iconic, especially the one where he would go to list all his famous movie roles. The movie’s energy is palpable and its goofiness is admirable in an age where we all too often forget that silly is funny and not the other way around.

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar will become a future cult comedy classic, that’s for sure. With excellent turns from Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo and the surprisingly good Jamie Dornan, the movie is messy and too complicated in its second half, but there is no denying the joy and laughter that its immense goofiness can evoke. The highlight for me was the Morgan Freeman crab, that was hilarious. Most of the movie is very amusing in its quirkiness, and it was just so wonderful seeing such an irreverent flick in this boring age where all too often humor and silliness are frowned upon.

My Rating – 4