Bubble Boy (2001) Touchstone/Comedy RT: 84 minutes Rated PG-13 (language, crude sexual humor) Director: Blair Hayes Screenplay: Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio Music: John Ottman Cinematography: Jerzy Zielinski Release date: August 24, 2001 (US) Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Swoosie Kurtz, Marley Shelton, Danny Trejo, John Carroll Lynch, Verne Troyer, Dave Sheridan, Brian George, Patrick Cranshaw, Fabio, Stephen Spinella, Ever Carradine, Geoffrey Arend, Beetlejuice, Matthew McGrory, Bonnie Morgan, Jason Sklar, Randy Sklar, Zach Galifianakis, Pablo Schneider, Arden Myrin, Leo Fitzpatrick, Steve Van Wormer, Ping Wu, Boti Ann Bliss, Robert LaSardo, Cleo King. Box Office: $5M (US)
Rating: ***
I’ve been asked many times why I go back and rewatch bad movies. Let me assure you it’s not because I’m a masochist. I do it because there’s always the possibility I’ll react differently to it. That’s what happened with the comedy Bubble Boy. I LOATHED it the first time I saw it at a late night showing in August ’01. I found it stupid, unfunny and offensive. I felt it went out of its way to offend as many groups as possible. It offends Christians, Jews, Indians, Hispanics, Asians, rednecks, little people, circus freaks, the terminally ill, cows and people who don’t breathe through their mouths. I felt ashamed for wasting my time on it. That was then.
A year or so later, I had this morbid compulsion to watch Bubble Boy again. It came as something of a surprise given how thoroughly I hated it. Since it’s useless to fight these urges I get, I just went with it and bought a used VHS copy from Blockbuster. At $4.99, it wasn’t too huge a monetary loss. Expecting to relive one of the most painful cinematic experiences of my life, I ripped the band-aid right off and popped it into the VCR as soon as I got settled in at home. Lo and behold, I didn’t despise Bubble Boy this time. I actually kind of liked it, in fact. Something just clicked this time around. It hit me that it being stupid and offensive is precisely the point. In a way, it’s like a much tamer version of Freddy Got Fingered (minus Tom Green, of course).
I guess the easiest way to describe Bubble Boy is that it’s a warped version of the 1976 TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble starring John Travolta. And when I say warped, I mean really, REALLY warped! Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) stars as Jimmy Livingston, aka “Bubble Boy”, a teenager who’s spent all his life living in a sterilized plastic bubble in his room due to being born without an immune system. He’s looked after by his mother (Kurtz, Wildcats), a devoutly Christian harpy who severely limits his exposure to the outside world. He believes that Highlights is the only magazine in existence and Land of the Lost is the only show on TV. His father (Lynch, Fargo) never says a word.
Life changes for Jimmy when he spots his new neighbor Chloe (Shelton, Never Been Kissed) through his bedroom window. He likes what he sees. He’s even more overjoyed when she pays him a visit. The two become close friends over the objections of his mother. One day, she comes to tell him that she’s leaving for Niagara Falls to marry her boyfriend Mark (Sheridan, Scary Movie). He doesn’t take the news very well; he’s in love with Chloe and never told her. He then makes a bold, life-changing decision. He’s going to leave home for the first time in order to stop the wedding. He puts together a smaller, travel size version of his bubble and hits the road he hopes will lead to true love.
Jimmy has many adventures on the road. He encounters a “Bright, Shiny” religious cult (run by Fabio, no less) where everybody is named Todd and Lorraine. They come to see him as messiah-like figure who needs to be freed from his bubble. He meets a biker named Slim (Trejo, Machete) who takes him to Las Vegas. He ends up on a circus train with a group of freaks who live in fear of their boss Dr. Phreak (Troyer, Austin Powers). He gets a ride from Pushpop (George, The Big Bang Theory) who drives an ice cream and curry truck. He takes part in a mud-wrestling match in a Chinese casino to win the “500 DOLLAR!!!” he needs for a taxi to New York. The taxi is driven by an extremely old guy named Pappy (Cranshaw, Old School) who hasn’t talked to his twin brother Pippy (Cranshaw again) in 86 years. All the while, Mom is in hot pursuit. She wants her baby back home.
I cannot, in good conscience, call Bubble Boy a quality movie. It most certainly isn’t! If I were to describe it in a single word, it would be “surreal”. I’m referring to both the movie and the experience of watching it. Blair Hayes, who hasn’t done anything of consequence since, directs it with total disregard for all that is tasteful or intelligent. He indulges in stereotypes and gross humor. Almost all of the performances are on the level of a cartoon. It’s not particularly well made. It’s a bad movie on so many levels yet I can’t just relegate it to my cinematic s*** list. Going against all I know to be good and decent, I think it’s a riot. I laughed at things I shouldn’t have like the scene in the redneck diner where the patrons are too ignorant to understand the nature of Jimmy’s condition. The crazy Chinese guy offering Jimmy a chance at “500 DOLLAR!!!” cracked me up. I even laughed at the physical abuse heaped on Troyer’s character, not that he doesn’t deserve all of it. I laughed far more often than any decent, educated person should. What does that say about me? Please don’t answer that.
The romance at the center of Bubble Boy is rather nice because Jimmy and Chloe are sweet. Gyllenhaal, a fine young actor at the start of his career here, imbues Jimmy with innocence and naivety. It goes nicely with his silly haircut (the work of Mom). Shelton plays Chloe as a nice girl about to marry a dope she doesn’t love. This is a guy who deems it necessary to point out that Land of the Lost isn’t as good as Jurassic Park. WHAT IS CHLOE DOING WITH THIS YUTZ?! If there are any two people that belong together, it’s Jimmy and Chloe. Kurtz plays it to the rafters and back as the shrewish mother who bakes cookies shaped like crosses. Everybody looks like they’re having fun even when they’re doing something completely embarrassing. Why knock them for it?
I still can’t believe I’m defending Bubble Boy, but such is the essence of being Movie Guy 24/7. Certain movies fascinate me for the strangest of reasons. This is one of them. It’s not for all tastes, but if you like twisted flicks, you’ll want to check this one out for yourself. All it costs is a few IQ points. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
