Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 2, 2021

Several social critics and/or provocative comedians have pointed out that the state of Florida resembles an, um, appendage dangling beneath the “torso” of the United States, and that it, like its referent, does not seem to be controlled by any rational impulses. There are whole stand up routines built around shenanigans that have taken place in Florida, and rather amazingly the state seems perfectly capable of saying “hold my beer” while it comes up with something even loonier than it’s already done to help keep those routines viable. Maybe that’s why that as cartoonish as it undeniably is, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar may strike some as not all that unbelievable. This daffy semi-musical (if two production numbers qualifies it as such) offers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo as co-producers, co-writers and co-stars, in what might be seen as a long delayed follow up to Bridesmaids, which the pair wrote and which Wiig of course starred in (Mumolo has a cameo in the film which is kinda sorta referenced again in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar). This outing perhaps surprisingly may not have the unabashed raunch of Bridesmaids, but it’s often quite hilariously rowdy on its own terms as it documents the vacation efforts of titular characters Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig), BFFs who have become roommates after the deaths and/or departures of their husbands and/or partners. The opening of the film details their “work” at a furniture store called Jennifer Convertibles, where they spend each day on a floor model couch discussing the minutiae of their lives while trying assiduously to avoid customers, or, if that’s not possible, to at least talk the consumers out of purchasing the particular piece on which they prefer to reside. Within just a few minutes, though, they find out that Jennifer Convertibles has gone out of business, and then that evening at their neighborhood coffee klatsch called Talking Club, the duo first attempts to cover up their employment misfortune, and then blurt out the truth, leading to their banishment from the social circle due to having told a lie. In the meantime, they’ve interacted with another friend named Mickey (Wendi McClendon-Covey), who has just returned from Florida’s Vista del Mar and tells the girls they need to experience it for themselves. Fearful that they’ve lost their “shimmer”, as Star puts it, the two through caution to the wind and decide to take off for greener, and probably more humid, pastures.

As Barb and Star deal with both their tribulations and new opportunities, the film's second simultaneously unfolding storyline is also presented, and in fact the film begins with an apparently sweet sequence of Americana showing the neighborhood paperboy Yoyo (Reyn Doi) on his appointed rounds, where he has "Guilty" by Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb playing on his headphones and is singing along. He seems to take special pride in throwing a paper at one particular house, and then just a bit later, he walks into a field where an ostensible "tree" scans him and he's admitted into a lair appropriately labeled "lair". It turns out he's the unlikely assistant of arch villain Sharon Gordon Fisherman (an almost unrecognizable Wiig again), who has paid a scientist to develop "killer mosquitoes", ostensibly to help deal with some kind of rabies outbreak in Africa, though of course really to help Sharon effect revenge on a community she evidently has some unhappy history with: Vista Del Mar. Sharon's chief henchman is a guy named Edgar (James Dornan), who is sent to the Florida community with a microchip embedded in his belt buckle that will unleash the fury of the mosquitoes at the appointed time. It probably doesn't take a NASA scientist to intuit that Edgar and Barb and Star are going to meet, and that chaos, and hopefully hilarity, will ensue.

There's definitely a geniality to Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar that helps it to overcome some pacing issues, as well as its sometimes slapdash quality that is perhaps best exemplified by those two aforementioned production numbers, which just kind of spring out of nowhere only to recede a moment later. But the film is undeniably funny so much of the time that its missteps hardly matter in the long run. While the film traffics in somewhat the same "secret agent-fish out of water" ambience that was part and parcel of the Melissa McCarthy vehicle Spy, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar actually finds a lot of its heart in the relationship between the two title characters, especially after an unexpectedly wild night with Edgar leaves them both wanting "private time" with the guy, meaning the two women need to be dishonest with each other for the first time in their lives.

There's nothing amazingly innovative about Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, but perhaps due to the exigencies of a lockdown and a need for some good old fashioned comedy relief, the film really hits the bullseye more than some might expect. It may not completely capture the cultural zeitgeist in the way that Bridesmaids perhaps surprisingly ended up doing, but it's a genuinely amusing, and at least occasionally laugh out loud hilarious, showcase for Wiig and Mumolo, who hopefully will take another cinematic vacation together sooner rather than later.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Sony CineAlta Venice as the camera of choice, and as usual without any contradictory information available online, I'm assuming the DI was finished at 2K. This is an incredibly bright and colorful presentation that offers superb saturation for its almost neon infused aesthetic. Detail levels are generally excellent throughout, helped immeasurably by the sunny outdoor scenes where so much of the film takes place. Fine detail is also nice throughout, and some of the close-ups of the heavily made up Wiig as Sharon actually disclose some of the powder and latex she is evidently laboring under. Some of the CGI is a little hokey looking, but that actually only adds to the charm of the proceedings, somehow. I noticed no compression anomalies of any major import.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar offers a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that has a nice consistency in terms of surround activity, and which perhaps unexpectedly offers some bursts of LFE now and again, as in an early scene documenting the explosion of a home belonging to a scientist Sharon has hired to do her dirty work. The outdoor scenes feature regular ambient environmental sounds, and the musical interludes also provide a good wash that spreads through the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and is well prioritized even in some noisier moments. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Josh Greenbaum, Writer / Actor Annie Mumolo and Writer / Actor Kristen Wiig


• Barb & Star: Making Life a Little Brighter (HD; 9:58) is the first of two frankly interchangeable EPKs which feature some fun interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the final film.


• Barb & Star: Casting in Paradise (HD; 10:53) focuses on the engaging performers in the film.


• Bloopers (HD; 6:16)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 12:41)


• Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar Fashion Show (HD; 1:29) is a goofy short with some of the women from Talking Club "modeling" the sort of clothes you'd be likely to see on a Florida beach somewhere.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's nothing very deep or meaningful about Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, other than some passing allusions to the importance of friendship and honesty, but the film is often guffaw worthy, and it has such an amiable presence that even its more hyperbolic moments are weirdly enjoyable. Technical merits are solid, and the supplementary package enjoyable. Recommended.