Another movie about a toy
Who knew so many movie ideas could be found while rummaging through your attic? This year we've had movies on Tetris (“Tetris”), Nike (“Air”), Blackberry (“Blackberry”), Barbie (“Barbie”) and Cheetos (“Flamin' Hot”). The latest is “The Beanie Bubble,” a comic drama about the Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s.
“The Beanie Bubble” may be part of a '20s trend but its interest is unpacking a late-20th century phenomenon and some of the women exploited along the way. Zach Galifianakis plays Ty Warner, the chief executive of Ty Inc., the maker of the stuffed animals that — thanks to a few ingenious innovations and lucky twists of fate — became, as one character says in the film, “little plush lotto tickets.” Elizabeth Banks plays Warner's business partner Robbie.
With a softer, under-stuffed design, limited editions to drive up demand and the help of the then-nascent online second-hand market of eBay, Beanie fever took hold before, a few years later, dissipating as fast as it began.
The first feature by Kristin Gore, daughter of Al, and Damion Kulash, lead singer of the band OK Go, is most concerned with a triptych of stories about the women who helped foster the Beanie craze but whose contributions were co-opted by Warner.
Galifianakis gives the best non-“Between Two Ferns” performance of his career. His Warner is a man whose charm, and face lifts, steadily peel away. In Galifianakis' long line of man-children, he's the biggest baby of them all.
Details: Rated R; 110minutes; available on Apple TV+