Crazy new comedy a star in the making

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (M, 103 mins)

Directed by Josh Greenbaum Reviewed by

BJames Croot ★★★1⁄2

est friends Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) have seen each other through some tough times. There was Star’s ex-husband’s affair and the widowed Barb’s addiction to caramel squares.

The pair now live and work together, at the hottest place in Soft Rock, Nebraska – Jennifer Convertables – where they spend much of their days talking together (sometimes in unison) on one of the shopfloor model couches.

However, they are now about to face their biggest challenge ever.

Their store is set to close – some seven months after the rest of the national chain – and, along with their jobs, they’ll also lose their annual Thanksgiving venue and their sparkle.

Denial comes first, then manic optimism. ‘‘This small town is full of places looking to hire women in their 40s,’’ Star enthuses, ‘‘especially ones without high school degrees.’’

The breaking point comes when they are thrown out of their ‘‘talking group’’ for failing to reveal their unemployed status. ‘‘Maybe we need to do something different,’’ Star muses. ‘‘Socks with individual toes?’’ Barb inquires.

But Star has much bigger plans. She follows the suggestion of a friend and heads to Florida’s Vista Del Mar, home to the annual Seafood Jam.

Unfortunately, their arrival coincides with a woman-witha-grudge (Wiig as well) against the town’s evil scheme to wipe out its population via trained mosquitoes.

If that last, massive tonal shift of a sentence didn’t faze you, then welcome to the mad, mad world of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.

Best known as a writing duo for 2011’s much-loved Bridesmaids, Wiig and Mumolo delightfully bring their culotte-wearing, Shania Twain-loving duo to life, walking the fine line of them being figures of fun and fun figures with engaging ease.

However, it’s the segues into odder territory that stay with you. From the opening scene involving a young Korean paperboy lipsyncing to Barbra Streisand’s Guilty to Wiig’s Dr Evil-esque criminal mastermind, her henchman Jamie Dornan’s power ballad, a mouse orchestra and a talking crab called Morgan Freemand, there are sweet, surreal and seriously weird, sudden shifts at every turn.

A man whose directing CV includes episodes of New Girl, Fresh Off the Boat and the magnificent George Lazenby documentary Becoming Bond, Josh Greenbaum somehow manages to corral all the crazy action into a more than satisfying whole.

Best enjoyed by fans of noughties Will Ferrell comedies like Step Brothers and Old School, or 90s cult classics Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Austin Powers.