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THE BEANIE BUBBLE
Directors: Kristin Gore, Damian Kulash Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, Geraldine Viswanathan, Tracey Bonner, Madison Johnson, Delaney Quinn, Carl Clemons-Hopkins MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:50 Release Date: 7/21/23 (limited); 7/28/23 (wider; Apple TV+) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 20, 2023 Anyone who was alive and conscious during the latter half of the 1990s almost certainly remembers the Beanie Baby fad. An entire economy was essentially invented out of the little stuffed animals, based on limited runs of specific dolls and the promise that "retired" models of the toy could fetch someone a small or considerable fortune. Pretty much everybody wanted them or knew someone who did, but before the end of the decade, the fever for the cute little toys was over, leaving a lot of people severely disappointed and landfills full of plushy, plastic-bean-stuffed critters. As has officially become its own trend this year, The Beanie Bubble takes a nostalgic cultural phenomenon from the 1980s and/or '90s and examines the business-focused story that happened behind the scenes. Here, that story revolves around the toy company's narcissistic co-founder and namesake, even if co-director Kristin Gore's screenplay (adapting Zac Bissonnette's non-fiction book) insists that this isn't intended to be his story. Ty Warner, played by Zach Galifianakis, is an inescapable force within the framing, structure, and focus of this story, though. In theory, that's not necessarily a problem, because the rise and fall the company's signature creation has so much to do with the man—especially that second part. The issue comes into play when the point is to tell the stories of three women who were close to this guy, only to realize that their narratives within this story are, essentially, entirely defined by him. That Ty is more fascinating than any of the central women in this story is unavoidable. Such is not the case because the women aren't and couldn't be more interesting than him. It is, though, because Ty is present and plays such a significant role in each of the trio of tales told within the plot. As a result, the movie is less about who these women are, as well as what they accomplish, and more about how one man held so much control over who they could be and accomplish. There's a clear distinction there, but it's not entirely clear if Gore and co-director Damian Kulash understand that. Instead, the movie makes the point it wants to communicate almost immediately, by way of introducing the three women to us and having each of them narrate that point. Through a series of back-and-forth interweaving threads, the filmmakers seem to hope we'll be so caught up in the various shenanigans, missteps, and betrayals on display that we'll either forget what the movie's larger mission statement is meant to be or ignore that the movie doesn't quite accomplish it. The three women, in chronological order of them becoming a part of Ty's life, are Robbie (Elizabeth Banks), Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan), and Sheila (Sarah Snook). The first meets Ty, who lives in the same apartment building, after his father dies in the early 1980s, and the two form a quick and deep bond. She works as a car mechanic and has dreams of being more independent. Her marriage to a stubborn man with an unspecified illness is part of what's holding her back, as well as a family history that's only alluded to, obviously, because there are two other characters whose stories need to be somewhat told here, too. Maya is introduced about a decade after Ty meets Robbie, when she applies for a job at his toy company in order to make some money while attending medical school. Instead, she decides that she's skilled at business operations, helping those little dolls become a worldwide craze with smart analysis and use of a burgeoning internet, where the tiny stuffed animals gain a massive following. Sheila and Ty connect around the same time, when she's scheduled to install lights in his mansion and he arrives three hours late. A single mother of two, Sheila doesn't have time for such inconsiderate behavior, but Ty charms his way into her life and the role of a father figure for her daughters (played by Madison Johnson and Delaney Quinn). The girls, by the way, come up with the basic idea for the little stuffed animals, some of the designs, and many of their assorted names. All three stories basically become a game of waiting for a trio of other shoes to drop, although it's the same shoe, actually, in the person of Ty. As played by Galifianakis, he might be bit of a joke—a self-involved man who goes to great lengths to appear more important, powerful, and intelligent, not to mention younger, than he actually is—if not for the fact that his faults are destined to impact the lives and/or careers of these women. He's essentially an omnipresent force of imminent doom here. Thus, watching as Robbie, Maya, and Sheila's stories basically arrive at the same conclusion for the same reason is far less engaging than the particulars of the company's business or the study of a guy in a state of arrested development. He is the main character of this story, albeit by default, and despite the fine performances from the three co-leads, their characters are, also by default, overshadowed by the man at the center of it all. The Beanie Bubble makes it clear that, after this mess, the best and most fulfilling days for these women would be ahead of them, but in the movie's here and now, it's Ty's show. Copyright © 2023 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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