“Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar”

6.5

I really don’t know where to say this one lands. I was either laughing so hard I was crying, or just that weird heavy exhale “almost laugh.” Most of this film makes absolutely no sense. It had the feel of Austin Powers in a way, but falls off the track and gets a little too sophomoric at times, where it lost me. It’s a delicate balance. The boobies song won me over every time they walked into the hotel bar. Jamie Dornan fits surprisingly well in a comedic role. The actual villain was from an entirely different movie and subtracted from the film more with each frame of runtime she took up. Barb and Star have a great chemistry, but felt like they were holding back in some scenes.

Very colorfully designed and shot film, with a less colorful storyline, executed by a moderately colorful cast of characters. Don’t ask me why, but I had this one hyped up pretty strongly in my head, and it clipped the third or fourth hurdle on its way to the finish line.