{"id":18400,"date":"2025-08-01T00:25:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T04:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=18400"},"modified":"2026-10-27T15:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T19:15:15","slug":"barbie-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=18400","title":{"rendered":"Barbie-2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barbie-2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Greta Gerwig<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Margot Robbie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 250 Films #226<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,381<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed July 23, 2023<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greta Gerwig is a tremendously talented director shaping Hollywood films. She crafted Lady Bird in 2017 to critical acclaim and then moved on to another feminist, progressive project.<\/p>\n

In Barbie (2023), she takes a traditional and iconic ‘Barbie doll’ product by Mattel and explores the positives and negatives of the doll throughout its existence.<\/p>\n

An incredible opening sequence, harkening back to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, explains the doll’s evolution.<\/p>\n

Barbie blends gender balance, creativity, thought, satire, and slapstick comedy, all rich with meaning.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t forget heart and humanity, and it offers a look at how much progress women have made over the years, and how much more is still needed.<\/p>\n

As if that’s not enough, Barbie deserves praise for its direction, production design, costumes, music, and cast performances.<\/p>\n

Well done.<\/p>\n

The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, who embark on a journey of self-discovery after Barbie faces an existential crisis.<\/p>\n

As the ‘stereotypical’ Barbie, she begins having peculiar, ‘un-Barbie’ thoughts about death and analytics, and must return to the real world to find her doll’s owner.<\/p>\n

She soon longs to return to Barbie Land, which is a perfect place. Unless you’re a Ken who exists merely to pine after Barbie, but do they secretly resent this?<\/p>\n

There are numerous positives to explore regarding Barbie, but one slight drawback is its proximity to silly comedy and goofiness. The film’s meaning mostly offsets this, but I fear some audiences may be overwhelmed by gag jokes and miss the story’s point.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a deep dive. The production design and art direction are dazzling and immediately noticeable.<\/p>\n

In particular, I’m referring to Barbie Land and its pink, pretty sets. Luxurious pools, streets, houses, and cars are rich with color and ooze a fun vibe.<\/p>\n

I can’t imagine these teams being overlooked during the year-end awards season.<\/p>\n

Robbie and Gosling, blonde, buff, and tanned, are wonderfully cast and not only look the part but also switch quickly from physical comedy to heavy drama without looking foolish.<\/p>\n

Robbie, for example, is the classic Barbie type, with layers of emotion that she channels. And Gosling could have looked like a buffoon with over-the-top sequences if not for a startlingly good dramatic scene towards the film’s climax.<\/p>\n

The supporting cast is brilliant, including Kate McKinnon as ‘weird Barbie,’ a perfect role for her to unleash her comedic prowess.<\/p>\n

How lovely to see Rhea Perlman again in the small but powerful role of Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel and creator of the Barbie doll.<\/p>\n

Finally, America Ferrera and Will Ferrell bring both comedy and heart to their roles. And how could the inclusion of British stalwart Helen Mirren as the narrator not create credibility?<\/p>\n

The main attraction, though, is the writing. Isn’t it always the case when it’s done intelligently?<\/p>\n

The dynamic duo of Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (famous, among other works, for the 2019 film Marriage Story) pair well, giving both Barbie and Ken equal weight.<\/p>\n

While it is easy to dismiss Ken, his role is valued and respected within the overall context of showing that everyone<\/strong><\/em> deserves a seat at the table.<\/p>\n

The film touched me in more ways than I expected.<\/p>\n

Ruth and Gloria (Ferrera) powerfully convey wonderful sentiments about being a mother in various scenes and messages, such as that everyone deserves respect and a chance to serve a purpose, which are hard not to get choked up over.<\/p>\n

Barbie wins points for diversity and inclusion with nearly every ethnic group represented and a transgender character, Dr. Barbie (Hari Nef), featured prominently.<\/p>\n

Providing roaring entertainment, bubble gum sets and design, and a message that will break your heart while exuding intelligence, Barbie (2023) is a win.<\/p>\n

It’s a story about the wills of plastic and humanity, making for a perfect, harmonious blend. Who would have thought a film about Barbie would be so important?<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor-Ryan Gosling, Best Supporting Actress-America Ferrera, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Original Song-“I’m Just Ken”, “What Was I Made For?” (won)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbie-2023 Director Greta Gerwig Starring Margot Robbie Top 250 Films #226 Scott’s Review #1,381 Reviewed July 23, 2023 Grade: A Greta Gerwig is a tremendously talented director shaping Hollywood films. She crafted Lady Bird in 2017 to critical acclaim and then moved on to another feminist, progressive project. In Barbie (2023), she takes a traditional … Continue reading Barbie-2023<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[428,49,201,362,207,7464],"tags":[7685,2923,12977,2417,2929,2921,2925,2927,2924,6435,2922,6655,2928,2719,2926,2468,2322],"class_list":["post-18400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-movie-reviews","category-comedies","category-fantasy-films","category-favorite-film-of-the-year","category-satires","category-top-250-films","tag-226-favorite-film","tag-america-ferrera","tag-annie-mumolo","tag-colin-firth","tag-emerald-fennell","tag-greta-gerwig","tag-issa-rae","tag-john-cena","tag-kate-mckinnon","tag-lucy-boynton","tag-margot-robbie","tag-marisa-abela","tag-michael-cera","tag-noah-baumbach","tag-rhea-perlman","tag-ryan-gosling","tag-will-ferrell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18400"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24950,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18400\/revisions\/24950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}