I have a vague suspicion that Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar might not be the smartest or most sophisticated comedy in the world. And I have a vague suspicion the movie is exactly what the movie wants to be… a deliriously dopey absurdity that utterly and totally commits to each of its dopey absurd gags… sometimes delightfully so, more often not. But comedy – and certainly THIS comedy – is egalitarian in its subjectivity so ignore me and just watch it and decide what percentage the jokes land for your. For me… maybe 50%… but credit to committing 100% of the time.

The flick star Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo (who cowrote Bridesmaids) as 40something single midwestern gals who lose their jobs at the hottest place in town (a furniture store) and head to Florida on a vacation. The vacation consists of seashells, the fear of riptides, turtles, culottes (an article of clothing so important it gets defined in the opening credits), and a secret Bond-Like villain up to no good.

This movie has the same DNA of a Romy and Michelle, a Bill & Ted, and maybe even a Wayne and Garth. Two kind of dim best friends, joined at the hip, experiencing weirdness and absurdity. The flick is just one dumb gag after another. Sometimes I laughed not because it was funny, but because it was so stupid that I wasn’t sure if the joke was supposed to be funny or not. It’s a definite possibility that half the gags work because they try so hard to fail at being funny. Or maybe I’m overanalyzing it and they are either funny or they are not. But they certainly commit to a level of absurdist asides that come out of the blue and leave just as quickly… and those just build and build until I giggled. Not to mention the two song and dance numbers, one by Dornan so random and goofy I rewound to watch it again. Bravo… I think.

I’m of two, possibly three, minds about this movie. It doesn’t work often enough that I should hate it… it’s produced by Will Ferrel’s production company which makes a hodge-podge of good and terrible comedies. And I feel that DNA in this film to its detriment… except this time it worked. I think this one is worth trying… and maybe committing to so, if it doesn’t work on you at first, you give it time to build up and maybe it’ll overwhelm your critical, intelligent, grumpy, sourpuss mind. It did me.

Score: 78