This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn't exist.The so-called year of the "brand" movie continues and after the varying successes of films like Air, BlackBerry, Flamin' Hot, and Tetris, we now have The Beanie Bubble. Though, unlike some other films, Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash's feature directorial debut is a much more cynical look at the '90s craze that was the Beanie Baby. The Beanie Bubble is not so much a love letter to the lovable plush toys nor is it some sugar-coated biography on their self-proclaimed creator Ty Warner. Instead, the film takes a look at the three most prominent women in Warner's life with how he took advantage of them, both personally and professionally, in order to gain the success he so desperately craved.
The film opens with a disclaimer proclaiming "There are some parts of the truth you can't just make up. The rest, we did," before introducing its explosive opening credits sequence featuring a semi-truck full of Beanie Babies crashing in slow motion, as numerous men, women, and children sprint out of their cars to grab as many of the plush toys as they can. It is a reasonably amusing introduction that teases that the film might not be your conventional biopic. Very quickly the film settles itself down and flashes between two storylines, one set in the early 80s where Robbie (Elizabeth Banks) forms a close friendship with Warner (Zach Galifianakis) that leads to the creation of the Ty toy company, and another set in the 90s where Warner begins a romantic relationship with Shelia (Sarah Snook), a single mother who is won over by the businessman's quirky charm. We are also introduced to Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan), an ambitious college student who takes a minimum-wage job at Warner's company to help pay for her tuition.
Despite his energetic and almost childlike demeanor, we're quick to learn that Warner is, to put it lightly, a prick. He's constantly belittling Robbie and Maya while also taking advantage of Shelia and her daughters to become a billionaire. As the film progresses, we see how the Beanie Baby sensation affects our four leads, both financially and mentally, all with the looming threat that the financial bubble they're in is bound to pop at any moment.
RELATED: Before 'The Beanie Bubble,' This Documentary Exposed the Real-Life Beanie Babies Craze
The Women Carry 'The Beanie Bubble'
Galifianakis is perfectly cast as Warner. While the actor rose to fame playing a goofy manchild in films like The Hangover and Due Date, in The Beanie Bubble he's playing a sleazy businessman with a knack for manipulation. He's not exactly lovable in the role, even when he's flirting with Shelia or mourning the death of his father with Robbie, as Galifianakis' performance lets us know there's something off about Warner. The character is intentionally grating, so much so that it starts to wear thin as the film gets closer to the finish line.
Thus, it's the three leading women who anchor The Beanie Bubble and ultimately make it as entertaining as it is. Banks' Robbie is similar to many of the characters that we've seen the actress play before, but she's just so perfect in the role and balances Galifianakis' exuberant energy with something much more relatable and human. The same can be said with Viswanathan's Maya. She makes her character easy to relate to and feel for. The natural charisma that Viswanathan brought to many of her past roles is present, but the way her character is written feels generic. There are moments that try to dive into her character's family life, but those scenes ultimately feel pointless and like after-thoughts once the credits roll.
Snook leaves the biggest impression as Shelia, who unlike Banks and Viswanathan, is playing completely against type. She's not some business-savvy idealist like Shiv Roy, but instead is presented as a woman who's been dealt a bad hand in her love life and is now solely focused on doing what's right for her daughters. That is, of course, until Warner comes in.
Banks, Snook, and Viswanathan all have excellent chemistry with Galifianakis and are ultimately what saves the movie from being entirely forgettable. While their characters are underwritten, their performances ensure we are still able to feel for them and root for them.
'The Beanie Bubble' Plays It Too Safe and Conventional
There have been plenty of films that have found success in telling their stories out-of-order (for example, this weekend's Oppenheimer), but the structure here just feels repetitive, tedious, and lacks any sense of focus. It's understandable that the filmmakers may have wanted to keep Banks' character present throughout the entire runtime, but it also just feels kind of pointless to tell the stories of the creation of the toy company and the birth of the Beanie Baby craze simultaneously.
The film opens proudly proclaiming that despite how wild the true story is, some of it is completely made up. Yet even the fictionalized aspects of the movie feel uninspired. It's not that The Beanie Bubble isn't entertaining or competently made. Gore and Kulash are able to make the movie flow at a satisfying pace and, despite the repetitive structure, it doesn't overstay its welcome. At the same time, it lacks the sort of distinct energy that recent similar films like Flamin' Hot and Air have been able to bring. Warner's relationships with Shelia, Robbie, and Maya are interesting to watch as are the brief moments where the film decides to dive into their personal lives outside the Ty headquarters, but for the most part, The Beanie Bubble seems perfectly content in keeping things at surface-level.
Even with its faults, The Beanie Bubble isn't a bad way to kill some time. All four leads remain gleefully committed to their roles and bring the kind of energy that the screenplay is lacking, but it never fully justifies why this story needed to be told in this way.
Rating: C+
The Beanie Bubble opens in select theaters on July 21 and begins streaming on Apple TV+ starting July 28.
The Beanie Bubble
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The Beanie Bubble is an Apple TV+ original movie focusing on the Beanie Babies craze in the '90s. The story focuses on Ty Warner (Zach Galifianakis), a toy salesman who is frustrated with the business until he works with three women to invent the tiny stuffed animals known as Beanie Babies.
