The Beanie Bubble (2023)

Streaming Now on Apple TV+

Rating: 7.0

Continues this year’s streak of “corporate biopics”, however despite the solid cast, this movie deploys every cliche and ends up coming off as pretty shallow. It’s a story that could’ve been told in 15 mins stretched over a 2 hour film, and loses sign of what it’s trying to say due to a messy structure. Still, an easy and interesting watch because of the talents of the cast and the subject matter on screen. Just comes off as bland where it should be, as Ty says, “sparkly”.

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Premise: Ty Warner was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women grew his idea into the biggest toy craze in history.

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Apple TV+

Directed by Kristin Gore & Damian Kulash Jr.

Screenplay by Kristin Gore

Based on the book “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble” by Zac Bissonnette

Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, Geraldine Viswanathan

Runtime: 1hr 50min

Rating: 14A

Comedy, Drama

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IMDb Rating: 6.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49%

RT Audience Score: 62%

RT Critic Average: 5.6/10

RT Audience Average: 3.5/5

Metacritic Score: 49

Letterboxd: 2.9/5

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Fun Fact: When Sheila knocks on the hotel door and Robbie answers you can hear Ty in the background exclaim "I just bought a hotel!" He's referring to the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City. The purchase of this allowed Ty to start to diversify his income streams and maintain his wealth after the crash of Beanie Babies in the early 2000s.