Barbie (2023)

Barbie is a toy commercial that keeps roasting the toy company, with Will Ferrell playing its CEO like a substitute teacher who lost control of the class. That’s the trick, and it’s a good one. Margot Robbie plays Barbie as a perfect plastic smile slowly figuring out there are feelings underneath. Then there’s Ryan Gosling. Gosling plays Ken like a golden retriever who just learned the word beach, and he walks off with the whole movie under one arm. The sets look like a dollhouse blown up to stadium size, and you can tell nobody cut a single corner. The problem is the back half keeps stopping for speeches. Good speeches, but you can feel the movie turn to the camera and explain itself. It made $1.45 billion worldwide, which is a lot of pink outfits in a lot of theaters. A 7.6 because it’s sharp and funny, then a little too worried you missed the point. $563 says you own something pink by next weekend that you did not own last weekend.

What works: Ryan Gosling’s Ken is a comedy clinic, and Barbieland looks like a full-size dollhouse you could actually move into.

What doesn’t: The second half leans on speeches that spell out the message, which slows the jokes right when the movie should be speeding up.

Who it’s for: Anyone who grew up with the dolls, and anyone who showed up to watch Ken have a full crisis.