There's a bold and consistent current of subversive humanism that runs through this infectious 2023 satire that director Greta Gerwig manages with stylish aplomb. She and partner Noah Baumbach have taken the Barbie mythos and built a multilayered narrative around the evolving nature of female identity and empowerment within the context of male dominance and the patriarchy that has defined sexual roles since the beginning of time. However, this is neither a treatise nor a polemic. It's still primarily a fun, free-wheeling farce with Day-Glo colors and silly choreography filling up the screen with zestful energy informed by a knowing perspective. Margot Robbie is ideally cast in the title role as she epitomizes stereotypical Barbie. Ryan Gosling gives Ken the right level of disempowerment as he gets taken in by the lure of toxic masculinity. The rest of the cast appear equally game. Gerwig has truly applied a perceptive twist to a candy-coated girlhood memory.