LONDON: Everyone loves a boom-and-bust story. And one based on real events? That is an even easier sell. It is the reason why studios continue to pump out nostalgia-heavy craze biopics such as the recent “Air” and “Tetris,” and why no facet of bygone pop culture is safe from a throwback-riddled dust-off.
The latest attempt is Apple’s “The Beanie Bubble,” which chronicles the staggering rise (and subsequent fall) of the under-stuffed cuddly toys known as Beanie Babies. Based on Zac Bissonnette’s 2015 book, “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute,” the movie tells the story of Ty Warner (Zach Galifianakis) and a trio of women who had key roles in the meteoric rise of Beanie Babies — his business partner Robbie (Elizabeth Banks), his muse Sheila (Sarah Snook), and a young and inspired employee named Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan). All played their part in creating a stuffed animal craze that spanned the world — and all found themselves on the receiving end of Warner’s narcissistic inability to share the limelight.
In telling this unlikely story, writer Kristin Gore (who co-directs, with Damian Kulash) shuffles between timelines, providing glimpses of Warner’s ability to inspire — and then hang out to dry — the people around him during the origin, growth and explosion of the Beanie Babies craze. Galifianakis leans into the melodrama with his portrayal of the problematic CEO, while Banks, Snook and Viswanathan are all given the chance to shine as the foils to his various shortcomings.
“The Beanie Bubble” is a fondly crafted ode to the 1980s and 1990s — and a successful one. Where it falls down is its one-note characters — Warner, in particular, lacks much nuance, and it is hard to work out what the motivation might have been for his terrible behavior. That said, it is an entertaining, gorgeous take on a story that not many will have heard before.
