BARBIE is the very best version of what this could ever be, and studios will inevitably learn all the wrong lessons from it. Why would a Barbie (Margot Robbie) living in a perfect Barbie world all of a sudden start thinking about death? Barbie and her needy hanger-on Ken (Ryan Gosling) travel to the real world to find out, and discover that a Barbie being able to do anything hasn’t fixed the world for women. Portraying a certain idea of a perfect woman and making her interesting is a tough ask but the endlessly versatile Robbie is more than up to the challenge. Gosling fully commits to bringing Ken to life with all his self-doubt, non-threatening vacancy and dangerous susceptibility to toxic ideas. The film isn’t just witty and unexpectedly balanced in its deconstruction of the big brand it is advertising but it’s among the most laugh-out-loud-funny films of the year and in Greta Gerwig’s hands has a pleasing, hand-made, Classic Hollywood look to boot. SSP