In 1993, the flamboyant businessman H Ty Warner (a role thoroughly chewed by Zach Galifianakis) launched a range of beanbag animals. After an indifferent start, Beanie Babies caught on, and by the late 90s, the US was caught in the grip of a tulip fever-style mass hysteria that saw understuffed plush toys traded for thousands of dollars apiece. It was the first inkling of the pernicious role that the internet would later play in shaping our tastes, appetites and, ultimately, thoughts.
With that in mind, it’s a pity that this plodding, dutiful, behind-the-scenes account of the Beanie phenomenon isn’t darker in tone. A touch of corporate chicanery and institutional sexism aside, it’s resolutely fluffy in approach. Geraldine Viswanathan and Elizabeth Banks play the real brains behind the cuddly collectible craze; Succession’s Sarah Snook is underused as Warner’s love interest. But the main problem is that, like Air and Tetris, the film feels like a vapid cheerleader for late-stage capitalism. It is blithely unquestioning of what the frenzy over glorified Hacky Sacks actually tells us about society.
In cinemas and on Apple TV+
