‘Ibiza’ sweet, silly romantic comedy

‘Solo’ shows off young Chewie

By Jake Coyle

long a staple of the moviegoing experience, the summer comedy has fallen on hard times. There are hardly any on this season’s release schedule, and one of the more promising candidates — “Ibiza,” starring the terrific Gillian Jacobs and the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Vanessa Bayer — isn’t playing in theaters but is streaming on Netflix.

In most ways, “Ibiza” doesn’t differ greatly from the late-arriving post-”Bridesmaids” ilk of female-led road trip comedies. Jacobs (“Love,” “Community”) plays an angst-ridden, single New Yorker named Harper whose intensely cruel, germaphobe boss (the excellent Michaela Watkins) dispatches her to Barcelona on a business trip to land a Sangria client for their public relations company.

Harper’s two best friends, Nikki (Bayer) and Leah (Phoebe Robinson of “2 Dope Queens”) insist on coming along. When the normally reticent Harper pursues a DJ love interest (Richard Madden, a.k.a. Robb Stark on “Game of Thrones”), their European trip takes an impromptu detour to Spain’s club destination.

The outline of “Ibiza” isn’t promising. A movie geared around a hot Ibiza DJ sounds like a straight-tovideo Zac Efron movie. And finding true love in the EDM-blaring clubs of Ibiza is probably about as likely as discovering the meaning of life on spring break at Lake Havasu.

But “Ibiza,” scripted by Lauryn Kahn and directed by Alex Richanbach (both Funny Or Die veterans and disciples of “Ibiza” producer Adam McKay and Will Ferrell) has a loose, natural rhythm that easily surpasses its cliche framework.

And unlike some of its forerunners, “Ibiza” doesn’t feel like it’s stretching to stitch together a few memorable set pieces. It works best when the three are just in a hotel room or the back seat of a cab because the chemistry between the trio is earnestly winning.

Jacobs has by now become an expert in sarcastic, wounded, resilient characters, and she holds “Ibiza” together just as surely as she does an episode of “Love,” also a Netflix title. As ludicrous as it sounds, her budding romance with Madden’s famous DJ comes across as quite genuine; they believably fall in love at first sight, brought together by that evergreen valentine: a crude drawing unknowingly stenciled across Harper’s face.

And while the genial Robinson is also a key part of the group, “Ibiza” most belongs to Bayer. In her largest movie role yet, the former “SNL”er (she departed last year after seven seasons) plays the Melissa McCarthyesque role of hapless sidekick, but with a more subtle and shy comic energy to her physical comedy. She’s always been a standout ensemble performer, but “Ibiza” makes a good argument that Bayer can do more. Whether sunburnt bright red on the Spanish beach or recounting her post-”SNL” Sunday routine, Bayer excels at the comedy of being herself.

Comedy

If “Ibiza,” a sweet and silly romantic comedy, was on the big screen, it might have pushed itself toward bigger gags. But the smaller scale works well in a genre that increasingly feels like a gross-out scene arms race. Here, Bayer does plenty with a simple hotel bed that she excitedly jumps on, not realizing it’s two fulls pushed together.

“Ibiza,” a Netflix release, is unrated by the Motion Picture Association of America but its language and nudity content would qualify for an “R’’ rating. Running time: 94 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

“Solo: A Star Wars” story doesn’t just introduce audiences to a new actor playing Han Solo, it shows his sidekick Chewbacca in ways he hasn’t been seen in previous “Star Wars” films.

Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo said the differences surprised “Solo” star Alden Ehrenreich. The film depicts the characters’ first meeting, long before they become heroes of the Rebellion shown in the original “Star Wars” trilogy.

“It was actually a long time before Alden saw me in that very traditional Chewbacca (look). Because when we meet, Chewie doesn’t really look like the Chewie that you’ve known and expect. It took a while,” Suotamo said.

Suotamo was actually among the veteran “Star Wars” cast members on the “Solo” set — he first appeared as the famed Wookiee in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” He plays him as a relatively young 190 years old in “Solo.” The film, out Friday, stars Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Paul Bettany in their first “Star Wars” roles.

At the film’s international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last week, Suotamo was clearly enjoying himself, snapping selfies with a person in a Chewbacca costume and beaming in photos shot with castmates atop the festival’s iconic red stairs.

Suotamo, a former Finnish basketball player who is 6-foot-10, said original Chewie actor Peter Mayhew helped him through a Wookiee “boot camp” to learn movements and sounds. He admires Mayhew’s approach to “Star Wars” fame.

“I think Peter’s outlook to that has always been to live your own life — not be bothered and not think too much about what others are thinking. That’s a great thing,” he said. “He has done so much good for ‘Star Wars’ by being dedicated his life to this franchise and these stories. We are indebted to him as much as anyone.”

He also got some unexpected attention from director Ron Howard, who could empathize with Suotamo’s limitations while in costume.

“When he was shooting ‘Grinch’ with Jim Carrey, for one day he dressed in a Grinch costume and directed the film,” Suotamo said. “I think he did that just to know what it feels like to be in a suit. So he was very aware of my limitations and what I was going for every day when I was in the suit.”

Meanwhile, Thandie Newton jokes that there might be something off about Alden Ehrenreich — because how else could he take on the pressure-filled role of Han Solo with so much ease?

“Every week, I was expecting a call that Alden had had a nervous breakdown and wouldn’t be coming to work on Monday,” Newton, who plays the tough thief Val in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” joked during a recent interview. “I actually think there’s something wrong with him, probably like physically and mentally wrong with him that he was able to sustain this.”

Kidding aside, Ehrenreich was saddled with a burden few actors would want to take on — having to play an iconic character whose identity is tied to a legendary actor in a storied franchise.

“Well, it takes a lot of guts,” said Howard. “And I was kind of close to something similar many years ago. I directed Michael Keaton in a couple of movies and suddenly he had this chance through his friend Tim Burton to be Batman. And he took the gamble and he said yes. (AP)