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Movie review: Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ is pretty and poignant in pink

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Movie review: Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ is pretty and poignant in pink

Ryan Gosling, left, as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in “Barbie.” (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/TNS)

Much like its namesake, Greta Gerwig’s new blockbuster “Barbie” has difficulty staying confined to just one box.

“Barbie” follows so-called “stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie) on a humorous yet sentimental journey to self-actualization. After cracks mysteriously appear in her picture-perfect life in plastic — flat feet, cellulite, unwelcome thoughts of death and more — Barbie must seek out her owner in the real world to set things right.

Unfortunately for Barbie, her brush with reality engenders extreme angst and confusion. The same cannot be said for her companion Ken (Ryan Gosling), who quickly discovers the concept of patriarchy and covertly implements it into Barbie Land.

Watching “Barbie” feels like biting into a hefty slice of layer cake, smothered in bubblegum pink frosting and dusted with edible glitter. Though there is an obvious sweetness at first taste, unexpected flavors subsequently emerge: a generous sprinkle of bitterness, an overpowering dash of doubt and a stinging pinch of existential dread.

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The movie’s absurdist tone is established in its opening sequence, which sees young girls violently abandon their baby dolls after encountering a supersized variant of Robbie’s Barbie. Smoothly narrated by Helen Mirren, the segment functions as a creation myth for Gerwig’s take on the influential toy.

Considering Gerwig’s penchant for exploring Catholic theology via film — she made her solo directorial debut in 2017 with “Lady Bird,” an eccentric coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a Catholic high school — it is reasonable to interpret Barbie Land as a gender-swapped Garden of Eden wherein Barbie is Adam and Ken is Eve.

By flipping Genesis’ script, Gerwig nudges audiences to consider how the holistic entity of Barbie both accepts and rejects traditional femininity. After all, Barbie has grown into quite the contradiction since her inception in 1959.

Depending on who is asked, Barbie’s identity varies dramatically; she can be a feminist and pop culture icon, bimbo, career woman, unrealistic beauty standard, role model or mere object. Embraced and rejected by modern society in equal measure, Barbie must undergo constant reinvention to remain appealing.

This all too familiar struggle is finally vocalized by Gloria (America Ferrera) — the ordinary woman responsible for Barbie’s initial misfortunes — when Barbie feels paralyzingly inadequate following Ken’s coup. She denounces the everyday pressure women face to be palatable, and Ferrera’s feverishly exasperated line delivery makes for a cathartic monologue.

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“I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us,” Gloria says. “And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.”

Gerwig also allegorizes Barbie’s dollhood with real-life girlhood, making her eventual choice to become human more impactful. Her transition into womanhood is marked by a dreamlike — albeit brief — montage of home videos, all of which feature extraordinarily ordinary women simply existing. In such an exaggerated film, this scene’s understatedness shines.

If anything, “Barbie” may have been too maximalist when it came to its messages. Because so many theme ideas are at play — patriarchy’s lose-lose nature, motherhood vs. daughterhood, losing one’s identity while in a relationship, grappling with mortality — some inevitably get fleshed out more than others.

Though the movie’s plot can feel crowded at times, its lead actors never fail to entertain. Robbie and Gosling play off each other brilliantly, and the latter’s comedic chops ensure he is an utter scene-stealer.

All cast members brought a distinct flair to Barbie Land, ensuring the world felt simultaneously fresh and nostalgic. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran only added to the sheer fun of it all, creating a host of inspired looks. Every piece of clothing seen on screen, from Barbie’s disco-esque sequin jumpsuit to Ken’s “I am Kenough” sherpa hoodie, left an indelible impression.

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If “Barbie” is indeed a layer cake, people are certainly hungry for more. With talks of an emergent Mattel Cinematic Universe, their craving could very well be satisfied in the future.

To that possibility, this critic says bon appétit.

Rating: 4/5

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review | Ryan Gosling shines in sloppy slice of summer fun

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Movie Review | Ryan Gosling shines in sloppy slice of summer fun

Surely, Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir has had easier gigs.

Watching “The Fall Guy” — the big-screen take on the 1980s TV fave about a Hollywood stuntman who worked on the side as a bounty hunter that this week kicks off the summer movie season — you can’t help but think of its editor.

“The Fall Guy” is many things: an homage to the show; a romance; a vehicle for stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt; a large-scale action flick; and a love letter to stunt performers — those who do the dangerous work or, as the movie suggests early on, get to do “the cool stuff.”

It is big, and it is messy, but Ronaldsdóttir has helped mold it into something that, while lumpy and misshapen, is more entertaining than not.

This isn’t her first cinematic rodeo with director David Leitch, having collaborated with him on hit movies including such winners as 2017’s “Atomic Blonde” and 2018’s “Deadpool 2,” so she surely knew what she was signing up for.

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It is, of course, entirely fitting that Leitch sat in the director’s chair for “The Fall Guy,” as he once was a stuntman himself. Famously, he was Brad Pitt’s stunt double on 1999’s “Fight Club.”

Here, the stuntman is Gosling’s Colt Seaver, the movie borrowing the name of Lee Majors’ hero from the TV series, which ran from 1981 to ’86.

When we meet Colt, he’s at the top of his game, specializing in being the stunt double for Hollywood megastar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Leitch’s “Bullet Train”). On the set of a big movie — Leitch and another frequent collaborator, director of photography Jonathan Sela, appear to take great pleasure in showing off the scale of such a shoot with a couple of elaborate shots — Colt is about to perform a huge fall.

On the way up to his starting point, he flirts via walkie-talkie with camera operator Jody Moreno (Blunt), the two talking about how, after the movie wraps, they could grab a couple of swimsuits — or, as a Brit such as herself would say, “swimming costumes” — hit a beach somewhere and enjoy a few margaritas, as well as the bad decisions to which they lead.

The fall goes badly.

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Eighteen months later, Colt, perhaps more psychologically damaged than physically so, is out of the stunt game, making a living by parking cars for a Mexican restaurant. And, having long ago pushed away a caring Jody, he is a walking pile of regret.

When old producer friend Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham of “Ted Lasso”) calls, asking him to be a last-minute fill-in on a set in Sydney, Australia, he declines. She then tells him it’s for Jody’s directorial debut and that his old flame requested him.

He says he’ll need an aisle seat.

Upon arriving at the shoot and set to do a car stunt known as a cannon roll, he complains about the sand on which he’ll be driving on — it’s, um, not dense enough — to another old pal, stunt coordinator Dan Tucker (Winston Duke of “Black Panther”), who coaxes him into the car.

The stunt goes well, save for Colt destroying a camera tracking his car, but Jody is shocked to learn he is behind the wheel. She did NOT, in fact, request him.

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Unable to kick him off the project, she instead sets him on fire repeatedly for one scene. Between these hot takes, her frustration via bullhorn over what happened in their relationship under the thinly veiled guise of talking about the lead characters in her epic science-fiction romance flick, “Metalstorm.’

At the end of the day, Colt gets into a truck, cranks a Taylor Swift song, thinks about their time together and cries — at least until Jody catches him. They talk, and while it’s clear feelings still exist between them, they agree to keep things very “profesh.”

Colt soon has bigger problems than Jody, as Gail has secretly recruited him to find the movie’s missing star, the aforementioned Tom Ryder. She convinces Colt that to save Jodie’s movie, the cops must be kept out of it, and he agrees to take on the task.

From here, “The Fall Guy” keeps things really loose, Leitch and writer Drew Pearce (“Iron Man 3,” Leitch’s “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”) prioritizing action and gags over clear storytelling. (Hey, it’s now summer at the movies — what did you expect?)

As Colt works to uncover the mystery of Tom’s disappearance, Gosling does a lot of the heavy lifting to keep “The Fall Guy” from falling apart. He brings some leftover “Ken”-ergy from the cultural event that was last year’s “Barbie,” for which he earned a well-deserved nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He nails every important line read with great Kenfidence, er, confidence.

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One of the movie’s issues is that Jody becomes a glorified background player, not the best use of the talents of Blunt, a four-time Oscar nominee including for her work in the other half 2023’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, “Oppenheimer.” “The Fall Guy” would have benefited from a setup that gave more time with its leads together. (One of the movie’s many meta moments has them talking via split-screen as Jody talks about its potential use in her movie, Leitch deciding to educate us on that filmmaking choice and others.)

So, OK, “The Fall Guy” leaves you wanting a bit more, but it succeeds as a two-hour excuse to shove buttery popcorn into your mouth.

And those hoping for a nod to the show beyond the initial offering of closing credits, which feature the “Unknown Stuntman” theme song from the show, should stick around for an extra treat.

Yes, “The Fall Guy” makes a bit of a mess of things, but it sure has fun doing it.

“The Fall Guy” is rated PG-13 for action and violence, drug content and some strong language. Runtime: 2 hours, 6 minutes.

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The Fall Guy review: The Ryanaissance continues, while Emily Blunt shines in this screwball comedy

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The Fall Guy review: The Ryanaissance continues, while Emily Blunt shines in this screwball comedy

In cinemas; Cert 12A

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in ‘The Fall Guy’

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) was the best stuntman in the business before a nasty accident derailed his career. There is always a way back and, after a tetchy film producer reaches out, Colt agrees to dust off his jumpsuit for a big-budget sci-fi epic directed by his ex-girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).

An awkward situation, and it gets weirder: the film’s leading man, Tom Ryder (Aaron ­Taylor-Johnson) is missing, and its producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) thinks he may have fallen in with the wrong crowd. It’s up to Colt, then, to track him down, save the movie and win back the girl of his dreams.

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Loosely inspired by the Lee ­Majors TV series, The Fall Guy makes a lot of noise, some of it not entirely unpleasant. Come for the fist-fights, the explosions, and the self-aware punchlines; stay for a classy screwball comedy about a broken-hearted filmmaker and her bumbling stunt performer.

The Ryanaissance continues, and Gosling is having the time of his life here. Blunt, meanwhile, is the beating heart of this daft presentation. David Leitch’s film is far too pleased with itself, but our handsome leads make it work.

Three stars

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Movie Reviews: ‘Challengers’

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Movie Reviews: ‘Challengers’

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