Best Pictures #104: 2023 (96th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Barbie

by A.J. 

Best Pictures #104: 2023 (96th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Barbie

“You guys ever think about dying?”

Is there a more unlikely subject for a unique and artistic movie with wide commercial appeal than the most famous doll in the world, Barbie? I wonder if Warner Bros. and Mattel executives knew what kind of movie they were getting when they hired Greta Gerwig to direct the Barbie movie, but we should all be so thankful that they did. A big budget movie with this high of a profile typically ends up being a film by committee, fiercely overseen by executives protective of the product or brand no matter who the writer or director is. That may have been true with Barbie as well, but it still feels like Gerwig got one by the suits. Her Barbie movie is funny, dramatic, subversive, strange, satisfying, ridiculous, timely, socio-political, and wonderfully entertaining all at once. This is one of the most surprising and best movies of 2023.

Margot Robbie stars as Barbie–could it have been anyone else?–or to be more specific, she plays Stereotypical Barbie, who lives in her dream house in Barbieland, with all of the other Barbies who each have their own dream house, having the perfect day every day and every night is girls’ night. There are also the Kens, who are, you know, there. The narrator, voiced by Helen Merrin–could it have been anyone else?–tells us that Ken (Ryan Gosling), whose job is “beach,” not lifeguard or surfer, only has a great day if Barbie looks at him.

Her perfect days and nights come to a halt when she begins having thoughts of death, finds cellulite on her perfect form, and her feet change shape from perfectly designed for high heels to flat. Knowledgeable and eccentric Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who got that way from being played with too hard, tells Barbie that she must venture to the real world, find the girl that is playing with her, and set things right. The Barbies believe that they have solved all of the real world’s problems regarding sexism and gender equality, so Barbie is in for quite a shock when she journeys to the real world.  

It’s no shock that the early Babieland sequence is the most fun part of the movie. Seeing a large scale version of the dreamhouse, all the different Barbies and Kens, the plastic aesthetic of everything, even the ocean waves, is a real treat for the eyes. It is also no surprise that the equally eye-catching production design and costumes have each received Oscar nominations. Both are not only vibrant and fun, but they also help define the characters. 

Margot Robbie is excellent as Barbie, not just because she looks the part but because she deftly handles the broad comedy and real emotions that Barbie didn’t even know she could experience. She fits comfortably into the flamboyant and fantastical aesthetic of Barbieland and is great as a fish out of water in the “state of Los Angeles.” When she stiffly flops over in despair we enjoy a small laugh but she has all of our sympathy. There are many things that go right in Barbie, but Margot Robbie is the keystone. 

Like Robbie, Gosling is broad but just what the movie needs. His Ken is an over excited puppy, eager for Barbie’s attention and eager to be taken seriously and seen as cool. He tags along on Barbie’s trip to the real world, learns about patriarchy, and turns Barbieland into Kendom. The sweetness of Gosling’s performance, as much as Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach’s screenplay, keep the audience from ever feeling like Ken becomes a villain. 

Perhaps the concessions that Gerwig made to Mattel were to not dig too hard at the corporation. Will Ferrell gives a hilarious performance as the Mattel CEO, maybe the most benevolent CEO ever on film. Mattel itself is portrayed as its own version of Barbieland, unreal and off kilter. Still, the screenplay gets a lot of laughs at the less successful versions of Barbie that crashed and burned like Midge the pregnant Barbie (played by director Emerald Fennell in a cameo) and perpetually overlooked Allan played wonderfully by Michael Cera. 

It is at Mattel that Barbie meets Gloria (America Ferrera), an aspiring Barbie designer, who goes with Barbie to set things right in Barbieland. Ferrera, who has received an Oscar nomination for her performance, becomes a sort of conduit for bridging the emotions of the real world and Babieland. Thankfully, the movie has no problem moving from being a live action cartoon into more dramatic, emotional moments, and even dealing with social and gender issues because of the great cast and the great skill of director Greta Gerwig. If her previous films, the Oscar nominated Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019), haven’t already established Gerwig as a serious filmmaker and auteur then Barbie is one more major point in her favor.

This movie is fun and playful but also meaningful. It earns every laugh, every tear, every comment on the patriarchy and society. Barbie is certainly offbeat but there are things in it for every audience member to enjoy; many, many have already. This turned into the biggest movie of the summer, earned much critical acclaim, and now is nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. It is rare these days for a big budget studio movie to feel so singularly ambitious and inventive and be so incredibly pleasing and well done, but Barbie is that movie. After all, Barbie can be anything.