By Mark Glass
For those who think COVID has changed everything in our lives, I have good news and bad news. The former is that although feature film releases have largely been in new and different venues, their timing might be the same as ever. The bad news is that the continuing pattern is of studios’ tendency to release the dregs of their inventories in January and February. That’s what’s left after they’ve rushed all the primo products out before 12/31 for Oscar eligibility. This one appears to be a prime example of business as usual. Unfortunately.
BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR is a disappointing attempt at a coming-of-middle-age comedy. As any SNL fan knows from the range of her sketches, when Kristen Wiig is on her game, she can be hilarious; other characters of hers can be pointlessly or excessively annoying. In this outing, she and co-star Annie Mumolo play the eponymous gal pals who seem destined to splurge on a big vacation. They lost their jobs and were ousted from their suburban social circle (a nicely satiric group of tea-sipping Karens’ Talk Club) on the same day another friend gushes over her recent vacation to the titular Florida destination. And they’re off.
Unfortunately, their trip coincides with an over-the-top supervillain’s elaborate revenge plot against that resort town. She is sort of a distaff Dr. Evil, whose pasty complexion makes Tilda Swinton look like a sun-baked beach bunny. That’s not pale-shaming; it’s key to the plot. Such as it is.
Do you recall ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION from 1997? Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino were a delight as ditzy innocents with a lifelong bond that synced their minds on a wavelength beyond most peoples’ comprehension. This one plays as if those characters are back 20+ years later, having been drained of all their charm. Barb and Star work and live together, chatting incessantly over mostly meaningless minutia that has kept them on their own island of reality. Their characters grow tiresome long before they grow in their story arcs. The result is a tedious experience, relieved somewhat by a smattering of truly funny moments. Among those are a few clever songs (one going almost full Bollywood) and surprising, mostly uncredited, cameos from stars who must have assumed the final script would turn out much better than the working version they were sent.
BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR is mediocre fluff. Even so, for those who watch, here’s a bonus tip. During one character’s semi-romantic song on the beach, watch the shadows on the sand to see how many different times of day were involved in the filming. It’s something for the unengaged to do.
BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR is available on demand as of February 12, 2021.
RATING: 1.5 out of 4 stars
