This finally came out on disc, so I got to see it after months of dodging the discourse and trying (mostly successfully) not to be spoiled too hard. (In retrospect, I should just have bitten the bullet and gone to see it in the theatre opening weekend, but ugh, opening weekend theatres.)

Anyway, the consensus is that it’s brilliant, and it absolutely is. I already thought Gerwig was a great director on the basis of Lady Bird and Little Women, so had high expectations, but this exceeded them — somehow, she found another gear and kicked it up a notch. It’s funny, it’s touching, it handles a complicated subject with subtlety and nuance, its premise is just spot-on perfect, and its visuals are even more so. The casting is great, the performances are great, the soundtrack is great, the costumes are great. Just knocking it out of the park on every level.

What I keep wanting to compare it to is Everything Everywhere All At Once, in that it’s working in that kind of fantastical hyper-realist absurdity mode yet somehow staying emotionally grounded. I strongly suspect that people who liked one would like the other. (But then, I guess I also just think that they’re both excellent movies, so I have a hard time understanding people who don’t like either…)

So yeah. I really don’t want to say much more about the movie than that (except to note that it’s a little weird to see Will Ferrell playing the heavy in two movie adaptations based on toys, but again: perfectly cast). Go see it.