There seems to be a current trend in looking back at commerce from the past that we have connected with. We had Air, about the Nike trainer; Tetris, about the computer game and Blackberry, about the mobile phone. Now we have The Beanie Bubble, a tale of the Beanie Babies phenomenon, the bean-stuffed toys that not only became collector’s items but the start of e-commerce and as worthy as stocks and shares. Sadly, this tale of the rise and fall of creator Ty Warner isn’t as gripping as the other movies, even if the cast tries their best to inject interest.

Ty Warner is a dreamer who, with the help of his neighbour, Robbie, decides to start a business producing multi-coloured stuffed cats. As the business grows and success comes their way, Ty starts being more ruthless, especially to those who help him go from a nobody to a wealthy man. He uses a young apprentice, Maya, as she injects new ideas into the company using the computer, while Shelia, a single mother of two daughters, becomes Ty’s target for love, but once fame hits, he treats her with the same contempt.

The film starts with a statement that this is the tale of how three different women were behind the success of the Beanie Babies. We get introduced, first to Robbie in the 80s, a garage owner who lives with her disabled partner, who is charmed by her neighbour and his ambition to start a business. Skip forward to the 90s, and we meet Maya, a college student looking for a part-time job as a receptionist who injects ideas to boost Ty’s business and becomes a whiz on that new object, the computer and the internet. Then there is Sheila, an interior designer left waiting for Ty at his mansion, who is also won over by his charms to do something she didn’t want to do: date.

Yet this tale of the three women is a falsehood, as the tale mainly focuses on Ty, this man who can make anyone feel wonderful about themselves but who will stab them in the back the second he knows he can make more money. In fact, Ty is the central character in a film that purports to be about three women. It’s as if Ken was the focal point of Barbie.

Directors and real-life partners Kristin Gore (the daughter of American politician Al Gore) and Damian Kulash, the lead singer of the group OK Go, both making their feature debuts, try to make the whole thing exciting but don’t have the skill or experience to make the film look interesting, so we get very flat direction, not helped by the use of time-swapping as the film jumps back and forth from the 80s to the 90s, using on-screen dates to represent each decade and the occasional overused film stock of events from each time zone.

The real issue here is that this is a story we have seen a dozen times before, whether in dramas or biopics. At the story’s heart is a man driven by greed and wanting success until that bubble bursts, and they end up with nothing. To be honest, the Beanie Babies were such a short-lived phenomenon that even when you mention it to people, they must be reminded what they were. This is also a film that is about the first e-commerce that propelled the toys, and yet this is given very little real attention. It changed the face of the internet, but this seems to be the least important part of the tale.

Having said that, it’s up to the cast to help lift the film, and they do a valiant job. Zach Galifianakis, almost unrecognisable without his trademark beard and over-the-top performances in The Hangover films, is terrific as Ty. This is a man you should hate, especially how he treats the women in his life, yet Galifianakis brings a sense of likeability to the role. Elizabeth Banks is good as Robbie, the first woman who Ty uses, while Succession’s Sarah Snook is given the least to do as Sheila, the mother who falls for Ty. A pity, as Snook has proven, she is a terrific actress. Thankfully, the real saving grace is Geraldine Viswanathan as Maya. She is bubbly, incredibly watchable and funny as Maya, the brains behind the business. She proved herself in the comedy, Blockers, and she is smart and on the money with her delivery. Worth watching just for her.

The Beanie Bubble isn’t a terrible film; it’s just not that gripping, and with so many of these types of films to watch, it doesn’t grab as much as, say, Air. It will probably come and disappear from the memory soon after viewing. A shame considering the talented cast really doing their best.

2 out of 5

Directors: Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash

Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, Geraldine Viswanathan, Tracy Bonner, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Delaney Quinn, Madison Johnson

Written by: Kristin Gore and Zac Bissonnette

Running Time: 110 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 28th July 2023 (also available on Apple TV+)