The Beanie Bubble

Based on true events, The Beanie Bubble details the rise and fall of Beanie Babies during the 1980s and 1990s. It’s interesting, intriguing subject matter that’s slowly-but-surely squandered by Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash Jr., as the filmmakers, working from Gore’s screenplay, deliver a briskly-paced drama that ultimately fares best in its entertaining and eye-opening first act – with the watchable atmosphere heightened by a series of compelling performances. (Zach Galifianakis, cast as Beanie Baby owner Ty Warner, offers up a completely convincing turn that remains an ongoing highlight.) It’s disappointing to note, then, that The Beanie Bubble takes a sharp turn towards irrelevance in its sluggish and perpetually underwhelming second half, with the increasingly arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a bizarre and mostly unwelcome emphasis on the melodramatic exploits of three women (Elizabeth Banks’ Robbie, Sarah Snook’s Sheila, and Geraldine Viswanathan’s Maya). By the time the eye-rolling, girl-power-focused final stretch rolls around, The Beanie Bubble has cemented its place as an oddly-conceived misfire that’s ultimately only tangentially about its title subject matter (ie it’s just so difficult to care about the periphery characters’ comings and goings).

** out of ****