The Beanie Bubble
Apple Original Films | Release Date: July 21, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
17
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Paste MagazineAmy AmatangeloJul 20, 2023
The movie is more nuanced than I anticipated and while it doesn’t completely get into the psychology of why, as Robbie puts it, America lost its mind over Beanie Babies, it is a cuddly, enjoyable and often humorous edition of the American dream gone awry. Read full review
80
Total FilmKate StablesJul 20, 2023
A playful, punchy tale that spills the beans about those Babies. Zach Galafianakis’ tantrum-prone tycoon transfixes. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 27, 2023
The Beanie Bubble is a frequently funny and breezy reminder of the pure insanity of the craze surrounding plush toys with names such as Patti the Platypus and Peanut the Elephant and Iggy Iguana, with an nearly unrecognizable Zach Galifianakis capturing Warner’s childlike curiosity, admirable drive and disturbingly narcissistic and sometimes emotionally bruising persona. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 20, 2023
The Beanie Bubble may be a tad conventional in its approach to this “origin story” and its “rise and fall” narrative arc. But it’s a fun, infuriating trip down memory lane thanks to the people traditionally left out of this “story,” the women who made it happen for the guy who got all the credit. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussJul 20, 2023
It’s marked by a polished balance of humor, searing emotion, all the information about the toy business you’d ever want to know, and cautionary advice concerning investments in something silly like stuffed animals — or, by extension, NFTs. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJul 20, 2023
It proves more interesting in its chronicling of the business practices that made the Beanie Babies such a sensation, at least for a while, than in its portrait of personal dramas, the veracity of which obviously has to be called into question. Overall, the movie follows a by-now familiar trajectory, with the company’s mammoth success inevitably followed by its big fall. Read full review
60
Screen RantNadir SamaraAug 4, 2023
Every performance has something to offer and though the filmmaking is not very ambitious, it is well suited for the plot and tone. The Beanie Bubble isn’t fan service for lovers of the classic toy, but it is a refreshing take on the biopic. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyJul 27, 2023
Gore, who directs with her partner, Damian Kulash, maintains a giddy tone that sometimes sits uneasily with temporal shifts that mirror the narrative complexities of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The needlessly busy structure is easily offset by appealing performances from Banks, Snook and Viswanathan and by a keen critical eye for the mad free-for-all economics of the Bill Clinton era. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentJul 21, 2023
Sometimes the storytelling can feel like a stretch, but this is mostly a lively, well-told account of a bizarre toy craze gone wrong, and the big personalities behind it. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeJul 20, 2023
Tonally, the movie walks a tricky line between easy-target satire and female-empowering corporate case study, falling into the overcrowded junk-culture nostalgia-porn category so recently represented by “Tetris,” “Air,” “BlackBerry” and “Flamin’ Hot.” Read full review
58
ColliderNate RichardJul 20, 2023
Even with its faults, The Beanie Bubble isn't a bad way to kill some time. All four leads remain gleefully committed to their roles and bring the kind of energy that the screenplay is lacking, but it never fully justifies why this story needed to be told in this way. Read full review
55
CNNBrian LowryJul 28, 2023
Despite its satirical tone, The Beanie Bubble largely plays things pretty straight – indeed, a little too straight, when a bit more humor and whimsy would have helped – with Galifianakis portraying Warner as the kind of self-absorbed, ruthless narcissist who’ll say anything to get what he wants (or really, needs) without necessarily possessing the savvy or discipline to hold onto it. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayJul 30, 2023
The Beanie Bubble eventually runs out of steam. The snappy pace and colorful style — so attractive at first — later become alienating, keeping nearly all the characters locked into one dimension. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleJul 26, 2023
In mixing up the Beanie Baby timeline to play out each storyline simultaneously, The Beanie Bubble needlessly complicates itself. But it also makes a compelling reflection of history repeating itself. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 26, 2023
The elements of a good story are here, and the talent to tell it is more than willing. The movie just never quite gets there. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 24, 2023
The power of the story, such as it is, is not enhanced by the nonlinear narrative structure. In fact, it makes it needlessly confusing. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJul 20, 2023
Despite building their adaptation around the cyclical predictability of American capitalism, Gore and Kulash can’t help but twist history’s biggest toy craze into a hollow and half-invented corporate fantasy about three women who bought low, sold high, and reinvested all the profits in themselves. If only it were that easy. Read full review
42
The PlaylistChristian GallichioAug 1, 2023
Only time will tell if The Beanie Bubble represents the final dying gasp or merely the end of first-wave product-driven narratives. But, like Beanie Babies themselves, one hopes that this bubble will burst sooner rather than later. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyAug 1, 2023
The Beanie Bubble is convinced there’s a victory buried in this story somewhere. It’s just not clear who or what we should be celebrating. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJul 30, 2023
It is blithely unquestioning of what the frenzy over glorified Hacky Sacks actually tells us about society. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyJul 28, 2023
Shallowly entertaining but the opposite of insightful, this film repeatedly hails the clever USP that Beanie Babies were understuffed on purpose, so they could be “posed” better. As a piece of malleable, threadbare, plasticky content with a plum destiny as digital landfill, their biopic is certainly in a position to know. Read full review
40
ABC NewsPeter TraversJul 28, 2023
Barbie fever is everywhere, but this botch job about the Beanie Bables—another doll craze from last century—is no collector’s item as it runs off the rails and wastes a terrific cast led by Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Geraldine Viswanathan and Sarah Snook. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 20, 2023
Some deeply muddled non-storytelling and tonal blandness pretty much sink this movie from the outset, despite its decent cast and origins in a potentially fascinating true story. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJul 21, 2023
A frustratingly inert film in every way, The Beanie Bubble has no POV and nothing to say. Read full review
30
The New York TimesCalum MarshJul 27, 2023
In any given moment, the movie is either overstating the importance of its subject or trivializing it. Read full review
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