The following will get into mild spoilers for the new Barbie movie, so proceed with caution if you want to go into the comedy knowing nothing, including things that have been shown in the movie’s trailers.
There are so many things that work well in Barbie, from the performances to the music and the immaculate production design. BarbieLand looks like it was lifted straight from the imagination of a little girl, and the cast no doubt had an absolute blast filming on that pink interior. The costume designs of Jacqueline Durran deserve Oscar consideration, specifically the fur-coat look acquired by Ken (Ryan Gosling) after he ventures to the “real” world and sees photographs of Sylvester Stallone circa Staying Alive and Rhinestone. The moment that Gosling adopted that distinct look for the middle section of the movie, it instantly reminded me of a conversation he and I had about his adoration for The Italian Stallion.
