Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar — Movie Review
by KJ Proulx
Regardless of how good or bad a film may be, sometimes you remember it for odd reasons. In this case, I absolutely see myself remembering the experience of watching Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar. It’s not very often that I watch a film with too many tonal issues to count, but still walk away having enjoyed myself. In nearly every other case, I would’ve said a movie with this many inconsistencies would be a trainwreck, and even though this movie is far from being praised by me, it truly does have some hilarious moments. I don’t think this film will find a very large audience or even be liked all that much by those who do, but here’s why I think it may be worth a shot on a rainy day.
After leaving their hometown for a much-needed vacation in Vista Del Mar, Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) find themselves caught up in a plot that may be an endangerment to everyone on their trip. The plot is simple, an evil woman and her sidekick are plotting to flood Vista Del Mar with murderous mosquitos and then comedy ensues. That’s honestly the set-up for this film so I didn’t want to beat around the bush when diving into this review. During the first scene, you’re clearly being asked to forget wherever you think this film might be about because it’s more ridiculous than you think. For this reason alone, it at least held my attention.
Creativity is definitely not in short supply here, but that’s also an overall detriment. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t laugh quite a few times here, but I just as much found myself either cringing or wondering why certain choices were being made. There are times when the story is serious, times when it’s silly, genuinely funny, and just downright random. Tonally, as I said, this film is all over the place. Yes, there is a throughline, but when a comedic beat is followed by a dramatic beat, only to then break out into a musical number, it just seems messy. There were multiple occasions where I just thought to myself that I was watching a very sloppily constructed film, which in hindsight just isn’t true at all.
Sure, the film is tonally all over the place, but I truly believe that was a creative choice. Jamie Dornan steals the show with a few sequences that had me laughing quite hysterically, Wiig and Mumolo are great as this duo, and I overall thought the look and feel of the movie were meant to remind you to not take it all so seriously. Nearly a full day has passed since viewing this film and I still don’t exactly know what certain things were there to accomplish. When I say this film can be very random at times, I mean that. From talking crabs to leaping over canyons with a moped, it’s been a while since I was able to watch a new film that was this weird.
Overall, as I said, this film is tonally all over the place. It’s about three different movies in one, wrapped up in a visually strange package. Written by both Wiig and Mumolo, it was clear that these two just wanted to have a blast making a fun movie and there absolutely succeeded with that. There are many memorable moments here, but it’s just hard to recommend this film without making sure you’re extremely aware of how random of an experience it will be. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is now available on-demand. If you’re looking for a quick laugh or to see something unlike anything you’ve watched in a while, check it out.
Rating: 3.5/5
Check out the trailer below:
