64
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100ScreenCrushMatt SingerScreenCrushMatt SingerBarb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar isn’t a movie, it’s a wavelength. You either get on it or you don’t. I’m sure some viewers will complain that Barb and Star are so quirky and chipper that they’re annoying, or that the film’s comedy is too bizarre and random. Take my advice: Cut those people out of your life. You don’t need to associate yourself with anyone who is that wrong about something this important.
- 88TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeAll comedy is subjective, of course, and Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar is aggressive in being true to itself and its own vision. Those not on board will roll their eyes and wonder what the fuss is about, while fans will watch it repeatedly, quote it forever, and dress as the characters for Halloween.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriThe comedy doesn’t build so much as it drones on, understated in form but preposterous in content. It wins us over not so much through belly laughs but by making us feel like we’re privy to a wonderfully bizarre in-joke.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattEntertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattLike some of the old-timey classics it recalls — Blazing Saddles, Airplane, the first Austin Powers — Barb and Star commits to its deep silliness so sweetly and completely that you can't help falling a little bit in love with them too.
- 75IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandIt seems odd to deem any film an instant cult classic, but “Barb and Star” is such a giddy outlier, a dense, flawed assemblage of zany humor that people will happily tear into for years to come.
- 70VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanIt’s the bright and daffy absurdist spinoff that these weren’t-but-could-have-been-sketch-comedy characters deserve, and it feels, in its modestly clever and diverting way, just right.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAn unapologetically delirious frolic in which lifelong friendship is tested by romance, adventure and the mass-extermination plan of an archvillain, this disarming escape to turquoise waters and a seafood buffet will be just what many folks need right now.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeIt’s a breeze of a watch and with the bar for studio comedy being so very low right now, it’s at least mildly inventive and likably goofy, enough to warrant a cautious recommendation (premium rental price: no, next time you’re on a plane: sure).
- 50Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe funny bits drift past their payoff, the pace flags (88 minute movie stretched out to 107) and the light, tongue-in-cheek tone, the riffing banter between the leads isn’t enough to save it.
- 38Slant MagazineDavid RobbSlant MagazineDavid RobbBest exemplified by its fixation on culottes, the film never feels like more than a half-formed in-joke between close friends.