Beanie Babies was a craze I was aware of but pretty much ignored back in the ’90s. I did buy one as a gift once, but I cut off the Ty tag thinking it was tacky to include. I only learned later that it was what made them valuable… so what the hell do I know?

The Beanie Bubble is yet another product biography in the same camp as Air, Flamin’ Hot, Tetris, and Blackberry. This time about the toy company Ty and the marketing of Beanie Babies. About how Ty Warner was a weird duck who surrounded himself with women who actually knew what they were doing.

This movie feels like someone sharpened their dagger and plunged it into the back of Ty Warner… and then twisted the blade for good measure. But, you know, in a good way! It feels like sweet revenge… and it might even be true (though I suspect Ty would disagree).

Not that it matters since the movie is pretty great. I loved its script and structure. It plays out in two different timelines and three different stories that converge as the film approaches the end. Events in one timeline cleverly inform events in the other. It’s a smart script well executed.

The three women in each storyline eventually collide. Sarah Snook, Elizabeth Banks, and Geraldine Viswanathan are usually in separate scenes so it’s fun and clever when they finally meet. All three ladies do great work but extra credit to Viswanathan for acting on the same level as the more experienced ladies.

Zach Galifianakis borrows from his own pop culture persona by playing Ty Warner as a weird, beardless manchild who might be a master manipulator… or who might just be an idiot getting manipulated. Definitely a fun depiction of failing upwards.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and its depiction of the toy business in the ’90s. Whether or not it’s all true, I can’t say (I’m sure there will be many articles dissecting the facts). But It doesn’t really matter because it’s a clever script that the cast act the hell out of.

Score: 86