Barbie’s movie success gives this film a golden opportunity, but despite its good cast, The Beanie Bubble bounces around the timeline so much it becomes a structural mess. The on-screen graphics of the years ticking forward and back is annoying. This film about the competitive toy industry, is neither cohesive, well-crafted nor fun.
This is the first feature from co-directors/screenwriters, Kristin Gore (Daughter of former Vice president Al Gore) and Damian Kulash Jr. (lead singer of the rock band OK Go). It’s based on the book by Zac Bissonette “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute.” The title of the book spells it out. From the very beginning of the film, narration lets you know that this story may be more fiction than fact.
It starts with a truck spilling thousands of Beanie Babies meant for McDonald’s happy meals all over Interstate during rush hour near Atlanta. The result creates a flurry as people got out of their cars to grab the hot toys blown up by the media. It’s a great visual, but has been embellished according to other research.
It is hard to recognize Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover movies) as Ty Warner, the narcissist toy company owner whose name appears on the heart shaped label of every little plush critter in his very sought after collection. Galifianakis as Ty looks very different beardless, wearing dark wigs, into plastic surgery, and a bit of a dork as the toy titan who was a more insecure, self-indulgent child than adult. Galifianakis has always done over exuberant well and as the weird womanizer he’s full of surprises.
Actress Elizabeth Banks, Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers), and Succession’s Sarah Snook play the women Ty took advantage of to become the toy maker giant of the 1990’s. This film shows how this frustrated huckster of a salesman systematically developed a $2.5 billion business at the expense of these loyal female employees who came up with the best ideas.
Robbie (Banks) is a neighbor who becomes friendly and leaves her job as a car mechanic to work with Warner who has a line of plush cats. Maya (Viswanathan) is looking for a part-time job to help pay her tuition at DePaul University in Chicago and is hired on the spot. She has worked with her brother in tech and has marketing ideas.
Sheila was supposed to do some work at his house and he kept her waiting for 3 hours. When he finally arrived, she unloaded on him. Immediate attraction. Plus she has 2 young girls and he loved playing with them but also used them as his testers. When Ava (Madison Johnson) and Maren (Delaney Quinn) say his stuffed animals are too big to take to school in their backpacks, and Beanie Babies were born.
Galifianakis shows the erratic nature of Ty, playing magnanimous to serve his purposes, but as the con man who took advantage of others to steal the company from his best employees, and take credit for all their. He eventually gets his reckoning and your find what happened to the women and the girls in post credit reveals.
The bottom line is that the script is hard to follow. It’s colorful from the beginning but gets so involved in the machinations of the business that it becomes lackluster. Too Bad it’s not a better film. It’s an intriguing tale of the first collectible craze of the internet age. Beanie Baby mania may live again, but this Beanie Bubble has burst.
Apple TV+ 1 hour 50 minutes R
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