God help me, I like Kristen Wiig. Are there other Kristen Wiig fans? There must be, but I sure haven’t met any. Like any SNL alum, Kristen has had her share of dogs, but I tell you this much: I like her body of post-SNL work a lot more than, say, that of Adam Sandler. What’s Sandler got? The Waterboy? Happy Gilmore? The Wedding Singer? I like both Bridesmaids and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty better than all of Sandler’s films. I liked The Skeleton Twins and Diary of a Teenage Girl more than Punch-Drunk Love. A Lot More. Yes, Kristen has her twin skeletons … WW84 and Ghostbusters immediately come to mind. But is either of those worse than, say, Jack and Jill, Grown Ups, That’s My Boy … Big Daddy, Spanglish, Little Nicky …Eight Crazy Nights, Anger Management, Grown Ups 2 … you think I can’t go on?
Point is, I shouldn’t have to apologize for this –clearly- guilty pleasure, but I am. So I’m both proud and sheepish to announce I found the Kristen Wiig vehicle Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar delightful.
Taking a page from Mike Myers, co-writer Kristen Wiig plays both bizarre evil villain Sharon Fisherman and daft middle-aged hero Star, and she’s great as both. Barb (co-writer Annie Mumolo) are Star (Wiig) are gossipy old maids “working” at a furniture chain store that closes down on their watch. Despite completely lacking for outside influences, these two like-minded housemates never seem to run out of things to say. You’re either going to find this endearing (as I did) or completely annoying. Personally, I twice rewound the conversion where the two used an entire plane ride to discuss “Trish,” a coveted and completely fabricated idol of theirs who seems to embody all these women hold dear.
Recently booted out of “Talk Club” for lying about getting fired, Barb and Star decide –on a whim- to head to
Vista Del Mar, an idealized Florida haven (Psst, it’s really Cancun, folks. Florida sucks). Meanwhile, in an underground lair, the melanin-challenged Sharon Fisherman has decided to unleash Hell on Vista Del Mar in the form of genetically-altered lethal mosquitoes. The vampiric Ms. Fisherman is taking out her cruel childhood on the residents of Florida; the question is will Florida notice? Mother Nature has already done a pretty good job of punishing Sunshine Staters (presumably for their voting habits), but Floridians have -by and large- not seemed to notice.
Will the two gabsters accidently thwart genocide or will they spend their time fawning after disgruntled henchman Jamie Dornan? What do you think?
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is a silly film. No one would pretend otherwise. Morgan Freeman plays a sagely blue-shelled crab named Morgan Freemand. Villain Kristen looks kinda like what would happen if Powder went Goth. And Barb and Star themselves have no assets but their friendship which is challenged when Jamie Dornan comes into their world. Still, I found it silly fun. There are countless reasons to hate this picture, but I think it’s sharper than its players and a worthwhile giggle for certain middle-aged folks. And Trish thinks so, too.
Barb and Star got themselves in a stew
When figuring what they ought to do
You may not believe-ll
In Kristen’s Dr. Evil
But it beats the Hell out of Grown Ups 2
Rated PG-13, 107 Minutes
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Writer: Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
Genre: Silly
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who might enjoy “Talk Club”
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: If you hate Kristen Wiig already, this probably won’t help
