The Beanie Bubble

Directors: Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash Jr.
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, Geraldine Viswanathan, Tracey Bonner, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Hari Dhillon, Ajay Friese, Sweta Keswani, Kurt Yaeger, Madison Johnson, Delaney Quinn
Running Time: 110 min.
Rating: R

★★½ (out of ★★★★) 

Having already seen 2023 biopics detailing the creations of massively popular sneakers, video games, smart phones and specialty flavored snack chips, it should come as no surprise we're getting more. The Beanie Bubble could be viewed as the toughest sell of the bunch, even for those who fondly remember the brief Beanie Babies phenomenon of the mid 90's. Anyone not around for this consumer fad would probably still recognize these stuffed animals sitting on thrift store shelves today, unmistakably tagged with Ty Inc.'s ubiquitous heart-shaped logo. But as captivated as directors Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash's are by this, it's cruelly ironic how few are aware the "Ty" on that label refers to an actual person, company founder Ty Warner. 

That Warner himself has been largely forgotten by the public might be the most fitting punishment possible for someone who always craved the spotlight, at least according to this account. Heavily emphasizing his shortfalls as a human being and business leader, the script anchors his story around the women he backstabbed on his way to the top. Flamboyant and eccentric, the billionaire clearly had issues sharing or giving credit, fancying himself solely responsible for every facet of his success. With a script full of tropes that cover familiar territory, the film's straddling of two time periods and three intersecting stories does make for an occasionally fun, if flawed ride.

In tracking the rise and fall of toy manufacturer Ty Warner (Zach Galifianakis) and the women essential to his triumphs, the film starts in 1983, where broke Arkansas native Robbie (Elizabeth Banks) struggles to make ends meet as an auto mechanic while caring for disabled husband Billy (Kurt Yaeger). But her friendship with odd neighbor Ty changes all that, as the two bond over his idea of a new "understuffed" line of animal toys. Robbie joins him in launching their own company, providing valuable insight that helps rapidly expand the business over the next decade. 

Flash forward to 1996 and Ty Inc. becomes a juggernaut, thanks in no small part to his loyal, hard working assistant Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan), who introduces Ty to the internet despite his initial resistance. Around the same time, he starts dating single mom Sheila (Sarah Snook), but as she and her young daughters (Madison Johnson and Delaney Quinn) are drawn in by Ty's happy-go-lucky attitude, they'll soon get glimpses of his insecure, uglier side. Seeking to control everything and everyone, he proves to be less than the sum of his parts, ignorantly marching forward, unaware this giant bubble is about to burst.

For a film lacking a particularly distinctive style, it at least opens with an arresting scene, as a Ty delivery truck crashes, spilling boxes of stuffed animals onto the highway that are frantically snatched up by rabid passerbys. An obvious metaphor for the re-selling boom, the movie not only benefits from moments like those, but the beardless, unrecognizable Galifianakis' entertainingly bizarre turn, which grants Ty a complexity the screenplay rarely explores. It's especially true in the latter half when the character makes an abrupt turn that stems from what's implied to be a troubled, loveless childhood.

Since this frequently jumps back and forth between decades, Ty's transformation from fun loving goof into Elon Musk can't help but seem like an overnight occurrence. There's some background about his mentally ill mother, but given the primary plot revolves around him gaslighting the opposite sex, it's still unclear whether he specifically has problems with strong women, women in general, or maybe just people. Mainly, Ty comes off as a weird guy unhappy with himself, so credit should go to Galifianakis for overcoming the creative obstacles to play him exactly as that. 

Using Zac Bissonnette's 2015 book as their blueprint, the writers deliver one of the broader depictions of a greedy CEO, with Ty deteriorating into full blown parody by the time we reach the final act. From enterprising optimist to someone you wouldn't believe can find the bathroom on his own, he gets a lot of help from the women whose ideas and accomplishments he's more than happy to take credit for. Whether it's "lifting" Robbie up as their professional partnership evolves into an extra-marital affair, or unexpectedly sweeping the skeptical Sheila off her feet, Ty's constantly working some kind of angle. 

The most intriguing dynamic exists with whip smart assistant Maya, who forgoes her education and family's wishes she become a doctor to work for this supposed innovator. Watching her gently steer the clueless, egotistical Ty toward the online marketing possibilities of ebay is a real treat, especially knowing it's a concept he'll never grasp. Viswanathan's levelheaded performance as Maya sells this, her wide-eyed idealism quickly turning to exhaustive despair upon realizing she works for the boss from hell. Banks and Snook also impress, with the latter bringing grounded humanity to a fairly predictable arc. Her Sheila emerges as the more sympathetic of the two, if only because the character's connection with Ty is so personal, making his betrayal sting that much more.

Watchable as it is, this does play like a shallower version of everything Air and BlackBerry did better, glazing over beats and events without really digging into the psychology of its characters. For a while it works, but then just keeps going, to the point that you'd think it was originally conceived as an Apple streaming series. At just under two hours, it feels strangely longer, held together by the performances and a hope there's enough nostalgia left to carry its story over the finish line.       

Birdman

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Naomi Watts, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone
Running Time: 119 min.
Rating: R

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

There's an early scene in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) where washed-up Hollywood actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) runs down a list of potential names to replace an injured cast member in his ambitious Broadway mounting of Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." And they're all actual big name stars whose commitments to their blockbuster superhero franchises make them unavailable, even if the underlying feeling is that they'd never do it anyway. Twenty years ago Riggan was one of them, riding high on the success of his iconic Birdman role in a franchise he milked for three movies before the word "franchise" even entered the cinematic lexicon. But Michael Keaton is no Riggan Thomson. Well, at least not in reality. He is in the sense that he completely inhabits the headspace of this strange, self-obsessed character in the throes of a mental breakdown. Keaton was the only choice for this role not because he once played a superhero, but because he managed to escape just in time. One or two more Batman movies and this could have easily been a different conversation.

By all accounts of the man, the performance Keaton gives here is actually a massive stretch, as he never seemed at all vain, hung up on public opinion, or insecurely protective of his legacy. And he certainly doesn't appear to be a nervous wreck. But boy has he been missed. It almost seems unfair to affix the "comeback" label onto a performer who has been working consistently, if under the radar, for years, but we're selfish like that. In a good way. It isn't wrong to see our favorite performers being given the best material that will bring them the most respect and adulation. One of the big takeaways to come from the this film's release over the past few weeks is seeing everyone come to the realization that there are few actors more deserving of it than Keaton. It's something we've always known, but never really publicly acknowledged until now. Besides being a fascinating and funny meta commentary on the entertainment business, Birdman works as a satirical tragicomedy about a man who not only craves that validation, but desperately needs it for his life to mean anything.

On the surface, Riggan writing, directing and starring in a Raymond Carver adaptation appears to be a case of a faded movie star pathetically using Broadway to establish himself as a serious artist and gain credibility with the masses. Beneath the surface, that's also exactly what it is. And that deep, distinctive voice he keeps hearing in his head isn't afraid to tell him so. It's the voice of Birdman, telling him what a loser he is, and based on the evidence we have, he might not be far off. We find out he's already wrecked his marriage and career and now he's wrecking his play, produced by best friend and lawyer, Jake (Zach Galifianakis). His spunky, sarcastic daughter Sam (Emma Stone), fresh out of rehab, serves as his assistant while he's joined on stage by girlfriend Laura (Andrea Riseborough), first-time Broadway actress Lesley (Naomi Watts) and her boyfriend Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), called in as a last minute replacement.

With Mike, Riggan meets his match in a performer who proves to be even more self-absorbed than he is, and about ten times more difficult and obnoxious, hijacking the entire production to basically go into business for himself. But critics and audiences love him, which proves to be important as they struggle through previews and wait for the inevitable axe to fall from influential New York Times theater critic Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan). It's make or break time for Riggan, who must also contend with the arrival of his ex-wife, Sylvia (Amy Ryan) and Birdman, who proves to not only be a voice in his head, but an actual superhero alter-ego with powers of telekinesis and levitation.

Form rarely informs function as it does here, with a technical approach that should generate as much discussion as the story or performances. Iñárritu's whole movie appears to have been filmed in one unbroken take, as scenes don't exactly end but rather bleed into each other as the camera follows the actors, swooping in (like a bird?) from one area of the theater to another, or even out onto the street when necessary. It'll be bizarre and sometimes off-putting for some, but there's no question it injects the action with this breakneck pace and makes us feel as if we're in the theater, backstage spectators to a train wreck we shouldn't be seeing. With most films there's at least a moment or two when you're taken out of it, made fully aware you're just engaging with a piece of entertainment. This shooting style makes such a moment of pause or reflection on the audience's part impossible. You're just completely lost in it, submerged too far down the rabbit hole to even contemplate the implications until the credits roll.

Hilariously sabotaging rehearsals and previews, without giving a second thought to that what's left of Riggan's career rests on a vanity project, Norton's Mike is a terror. If anything, he thinks he's doing him a solid by royally screwing with it. And it's sadder still that he could actually be right. We see many scenes from the play and even certain ones multiple times, but it's because of Norton that each one is more hilarious and energetic than the last. Whether Iñárritu's trying to play with the media's perception of Norton being "difficult" in the same way his script toys with Keaton's image, the actor far transcends that in-joke to deliver a performance that somehow, someway makes this unlikable jerk a relatable and complicated person. We anticipate every bit of mischief he causes since the movie feels most alive when he's sharing scenes with Keaton, who unlike his bizarro onscreen counterpart, has no problem ceding the spotlight to his co-star. Norton plays such a strong antagonist that the movie briefly suffers when he disappears and the third act kind of fly off the rails, if such a description can even apply to a project like this. Let's just say it doesn't fly off the rails the way you expect it to.

If the production's really all about Riggan, than the movie's all about Keaton, with the actor reminding us how equally adept he is at tackling anything thrown at him, whether it be comedic or dramatic. Here he gets the chance to do both, and a whole lot more, all at once. He's always been tough to categorize and even cast because of that flexibility, so this ends up being the perfect outlet for a performer whose onscreen persona always seemed a bit too crazy and dangerous to fit into the box of a conventional leading man. With this role, he finally doesn't have to be pigeonholed like that, given the opportunity to play a difficult, often unlikable protagonist wrestling with crippling fears and insecurities.

There are those trademark Keaton moments where he flies off the handle and gets that manic look in his eyes, but his best scenes are the quieter, brutally honest ones Riggan shares with his ex-wife and daughter, the latter played by Emma Stone as you've never seen her before. Noticeably thinner an paler with her giant eyes eating up every corner of the frame, it's about as far a departure for the actress as it gets, abandoning her "good girl" persona to embody the angry and bitingly sarcastic Sam, whose real job is mostly to keep her father's raging id in check. And that she does, even when he doesn't want to hear it, facing off with Keaton and Norton and more than holding her own in an edgy performance few probably thought she had in her. In less showier roles, Watts and Riseborough are destined to be underappreciated, especially Riseborough, who's a feisty wonder in her scenes opposite Keaton. And who thought Zalifiankis would ever play the most reasonable character in a comedy? 

This is a film that makes no bones about calling attention to itself at every turn and is completely in love with its strangeness, rarely hesitating to remind you of it in every scene. Tolerance for that unsubtle approach will vary, causing a debate as to whether all these techniques truly inform the story or Iñárritu's showing off. It's probably a little bit of both, but there's no denying those creative choices make for a far more intriguing experience than if it were presented as a relatively straightforward dramedy about an actor coming to terms with his past and ego. A performance showcase above all else, it can't be a coincidence that three stars of huge superhero movie franchises were cast in it, and as someone completely burnt out by the genre, it was thrilling to see it skewered, while still being dealt a compelling character study in the midst of the craziness. Birdman almost defies categorization, as it takes a while to really wrap your head around, assuming you're even intended to. And that's always a great thing.

The Hangover

Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong
Running Time: 100 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

The Hangover takes a great premise that many will undoubtedly relate to and does the most it can with it. Asking the intriguing question of "What happened last night?" the film becomes an engaging comic mystery that avoids cliches, works in some clever little touches and features a few memorable performances. If my reaction seems a bit more lukewarm than the general glowing consensus that's probably just a symptom of having seen way too many comedies. If nothing else, it's at least far more pleasing than director Todd Phillips' own overrated cult comedy Old School, which I thought lazily phoned in a great idea. This is more in line with Road Trip.

If there's a fatal flaw, it would be that the big payoff seems pat and inconsequential considering how good a job is done building toward it. But it isn't trying to reinvent mainstream comedy, just be flat out hilarious, which it is all the way through. I can't say I cared greatly what happened the characters and the plot kind of flies off the rails toward the final act, but I laughed a lot, which is really all that counts. Plus, how often do you get to see Mike Tyson and Heather Graham in the same movie? Or any movie? Much less one of actual quality.

On the eve of his impending wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) is being taken to Vegas for a bachelor party by best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) and future brother-in-law, Alan (Zach Galifianakis). The plan is to give Doug one last night of hedonism before heading back the following day to tie the knot. Instead they wake up the next morning with no memory of the previous night and a lot of confounding questions. How did their $4200 suite get wrecked? Why is there a tiger in the bathroom? Whose baby is this? Where's Stu's tooth? Why is he now married to a stripper? Who knew Mike Tyson was such a huge Phil Collins fan? Most importantly, where's Doug? It's that last question that drives the action and send them on a frantic quest to piece together all the clues necessary to find their friend and get him to the altar on time.

The first hour of the film is the strongest, when we know about as much about the crazy scenario as the characters do: Nothing. The excitement of seeing them start to figure things out and the hilarious and unexpected detours that mission takes them on is the big draw here. It's filled with bizarre and uncomfortable moments, made all the more bizarre by the three very distinct personalities of the major players, especially eccentric, bearded slob Alan, who's the type of character you'd imagine being (over) played by Jack Black in a lesser movie. Instead, Galifianakis, long underrated as both an actor and a comedian, suggests a whole history for this guy in a handful of scenes with his off putting comments and creepy behavior, supplying most of the biggest laughs. There's enough reality in the portrayal to make us squirm yet it never crosses that line to the point we can't see the absurd humor in it.

Bradley Cooper is essentially the leading man for most of the picture, doing a good job making cocky jerk Phil (a teacher who hilariously collects cash from his students to fund this trip) somehow come off as likable. Ed Helms' Stu kind of reminded me of an adult version of McLuvin' from Superbad if he grew up to become a dentist (NOT A DOCTOR) whipped by a bitchy, controlling girlfriend (Rachael Harris). As the sweet, innocent stripper Jade, Heather Graham is given her best role in years, which may not being saying much, but it's a perfect fit for her. One of the script's best qualities is how it deftly handles the revelation Stu has awakened now married to this woman and it may not be the end of the world like he thinks it is. I'd even wager I found Stu's entire storyline more involving than anything having to do with the missing groom. Tyson is Tyson, but it works perfectly, and while his actual screen time amounts to slightly more than a cameo, it's a memorable one that delivers. His part is considerably funnier than even the trailers and commercials have teased.

The movie starts to run into trouble when it actually has to deliver on the mystery of what happened to Doug. Had the writers come up with something really inventive to explain what happened to him that matched the hilarity that unfolded up to that point it would have really taken the movie to the next level. Instead, things are wrapped up a little too tidily, even though we're given a classic supporting turn late in the game from Ken Jeong as an effeminate gangster that almost makes up for it. Also, since we're given so little time with Doug at the beginning of the picture and Justin Bartha is bland in just the few scenes he's given, it's difficult to care whether he makes it back for the wedding. In a way though, that's kind of a relief because it frees the movie up to just simply be crass and funny instead of delivering dopey life lessons, an unfortunate symptom that's befallen other testosterone driven comedies lately.

This doesn't seem like the kind of comedy that would hold up that well on a second viewing since it's built around a mystery and once you know how that turns out all that's left are the jokes. And those tend to never play as well the second time around, even for the very best efforts in the genre. You have to wonder if the exact same events of that night just unfolded as they happened without the big question at the center whether anyone would be talking about this movie at the level they are. When you put all the pieces together the whole endeavor does seem ordinary and by-the-numbers in retrospect. That was something that should have been avoided, but at least all the jokes hit and the comic timing clicks. These are characters you like spending time with in a movie you wouldn't mind actually living in for one night. Many probably already have. Where The Hangover really succeeds is in effectively capturing the hilarious uncertainty of that situation.