Ads for "Barbie" claimed it was for people who hate her and love her, which left me wondering: What about people who don't care about her at all? Turns out the comedy/drama has us covered, too.
The key to the movie is director/co-writer Greta Gerwig's ability — previously demonstrated in "Lady Bird" and "Little Women" as well as in performances in "Maggie's Plan" and "Frances Ha" — to make sincerity feel cool. Cynical moviegoers can be forgiven for going into "Barbie" thinking it'll be an aggressively marketed fan service, like "Super Mario Bros." was.
It's not. It's a thoughtful, funny film that cares about what Barbie means to people and it argues that Barbie — like human beings — makes mistakes but is pretty great, anyway.
