The new comedy
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar cashes in all the mainstream cred accrued by writer-actors Kristin Wiig and Annie Mumolo after the phenomenon of
Bridesmaids, then puts it toward the greatest use of all: silly, bizarre, ecstatic jokes.
The bits are executed with extreme confidence; when the pair strut out in khaki culottes and larger-than-life perms, it’s like they’ve spent the last 10 years performing on
SNL as the two twinkling, middle-age Midwesterners. But like Austin Powers or Andy Samberg’s
Popstar alter ego Connor4Real, Wiig and Mumolo invented Barb and Star solely for one ludicrous adventure in the sun. Also like
Despite getting a writer’s credit for
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl by all accounts hated the final film, to the point where he was reluctant to allow any of his books to be filmed at all. Aware of this, his family hesitated to allow the book to be filmed a second time unless they could retain creative control. This, naturally, delayed matters still further. It was not until several years after Dahl’s death that film producers and the Dahl family could agree on hiring director Tim Burton, whose previous work seemed perfectly matched to Dahl’s grotesque visions. It took Burton another few years to develop the film, now back to its original title,