Film Review: "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar" (2021).

"The Friendship We All Want. The Vacation We All Need." This is Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. This comedy film directed by Josh Greenbaum, and written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time…ever. Romance, friendship and a villain’s evil plot.

In April 2019, after having been in development hell for a number of years, the film was officially announced with Wiig and Mumolo penning the script, as well as to star in the title roles, and Greenbaum hired to direct. By July, Jamie Dornan, Damon Wayans Jr., Wendi McLendon-Covey, Vanessa Bayer, Fortune Feimster, Rose Abdoo, Phyllis Smith, Tom Lenk, Andy García and Reba McEntire rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in September. Filming took place in Cancun, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film was originally supposed to be shot in Atlanta, Georgia. The film was originally scheduled for a July 31, 2020 release date. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was pushed back to July 16, 2021. In early January 2021, Lionsgate announced that it was cancelling the film's theatrical release, and instead debut the film via premium VOD on February 12, 2021.

The film stars Wiig, Mumolo, Dornan, Wayans Jr., McLendon-Covey, Bayer, Feimster, Abdoo, Smith, Lenk, García and McEntire. Wiig and Mumolo's work as the neurotic but mostly well meaning characters are a breakthrough, proving that being funny and having feelings are not mutually exclusive. They have written lead roles for themselves with some great awkward moments usually regulated for fools of the male variety. It's nice to see women can be just as boneheaded when the situation calls for it.

A tale of female anxiety deliriously and freakishly off the leash, it's as close to a perfect multiplex comedy as they come. The director is documentary vet Greenbaum but the auteur are stars and co-writers Wiig and Mumolo, who take center stage after displaying flashes of fuzzy brilliance. Women are complex creatures, and the film presents the reality of female friendship with a level of seriousness and due care that is all the more affecting for being so rare. However, once the dilemmas hit and the lead characters begin their crazy adventure, the joke-a-minute pacing from the introduction is lost. The film is probably about twenty minutes too long and not every gag plays as well as it should have. Still, I found myself laughing a lot during the film. I'm going to finish with a time saver, with a two-word litmus test of whether or not the film is for you. If you giggle, go see this. If you make a face like you smell something rancid, sit this one out. And these two words are... sink diarrhea. Through a combination of smart performances and scurrilous gags Bridesmaids yanks the buddy comedy from the hands of its traditional owners.

Simon says Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar receives: