Bubble Boy (DVD)
Directed by: Blair Hayes
Written by: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Swoosie Kurtz, Marley Shelton, Danny Trejo

It was with hesitation I decided to rent this theother night. One one hand a friend of mine recommendedit highly, on the other hand, I remembered all the oneliners and bad reviews, and protests this movie hadthis past summer when it was released. “This bubbleneeds to be popped” I think is the little blurb you’llfind on the IMDB.

It turns out that people are stupid. Stupid stupidstupid. Because “Bubble Boy” turns out to be probablyone of the most underrated films I’ve seen in a goodlong while. That isn’t to say its perfect, but thereis plenty to be liked in this sweet little film.

Now first I might add a disclaimer, and I imagine morethan anything, this is where the venom against thismovie comes from. It makes fun of Christianiy – aLOT. It takes jabs at several religions actually ifyou look at it at face value, but specifically theonly commentary the film makes is againstChristianity. But more on that later.

The film is about a young boy named Jimmy (JakeGyllenhaal – “October Sky”) who is born without animmune system. As the title gives away, he lives inhis home in a giant plastic bubble. He is raised by aoverly protective religious mother (Swoosie Kurtz -”Sisters”) who gives him Jesus fish protein cookiesand reads him fairy tales with altered endings. “…and then he left his bubble and died” is a typicalfinale.

Jimmy is taunted by the neighborhood kids most of his childhood, and he bides his time playing guitar and watching “Land of the Lost”, until he hits puberty and notices the girl next door, Chloe (Marley Shelton – “Valentine”). She is pretty much the only person who accepts him as he is, and theres a quick little teen love montage that shows how they grow together.

As Chloe grows up however, its become apparent thatshe cant really be with Jimmy if he’s stuck in abubble, and reluctantly ends up engaged to on-againoff-again jerk boyfriend Mark (Dave Sheridan, mostrecently remembered as “Doug” from “Ghost World” aswell as “Doofy” in Scary Movie. He’s also starring inthe upcoming “Frank McClusky C.I.”). They’re off toNiagara Falls to get married.

Of course, this sets Jimmy into action, and he putstogether a bubble suit so he can leave his home forthe first time and travel to Niagara Falls to stop thewedding. As is with most road movies, this is wherethe fun begins.

What follows can only be compared to “Pee-Wee’s BigAdventure” and a little bit of “UHF” in spirit. Thereis a fair share of slapstick in the bubble suit, andthis is where I imagine a lot of critics stepped in. Iimagine they felt inappropriate giving acclaim to amovie with so many protests against it. They see themovie as making fun of the bubble suit, when reallyits just an angle to give someone an outsider/underdogstatus, as well as teach a lesson. The bubble isimportant to Jimmys character in the same way scissorsare necessary for Edward Scissorhands.

Like all road movies, a lot of comedy comes from thepeople Jimmy meets along the way. First is a cult ledby Fabio called “Bright and Shiny” that think Jimmy istheir messiah, the Round One. All the members of thecult offer each other Kool Aid and are all named Toddand Lorraine. Their song is catchy enough to warrant asing along feature on the DVD and I might just have tofind an MP3 of it. Theres a stranded biker named Slim(Danny Trejo – “Spy Kids”, “From Dusk Till Dawn”), agroup of freaks led by Dr. Phreak (Verne Troyer akaMini-Me) and a Hindu ice cream & curry salesman namedPushpop (Brian George – “Ghost World”), whose truck islike some sort of mobile shrine. All the while, muchlike in “Sesame Streets Follow that Bird”, Jimmy isalso being trailed by his mother and his father (JohnCarrol Lynch , who played Norm “Sonuva” Gunderson in”Fargo”). Of course, eventually Jimmy gets to NiagaraFalls, and we get a happy ending with plenty of funnycurtain calls to see where all the characters end up.

The general message of the film has to do with parentsbeing overprotective from the “evils of the world” aswell as how many people try to use handicapped peopleas their poster boys. Whats ironic is that of all thepeople in the film, Jimmy is the most likable andopen-minded. Despite all the junk his mother teacheshim, he is friendly and happy to everyone, despite allthe races, religions, ages and appearances of those hemeets. In one redneck town for example, he stands upfor a Hindu man being harassed by people who arereally exactly like his mother.

This brings us back to the religion bashing. Morethan anything, I think the movie takes shots at thosewho use Christianity or any other religion as a frontfor hate and intolerance. The movie never attacksreligious teachings but the people who abuse it fortheir own purpose. Anyone who would be offended by the anti-religious content of the film might just be one of the people who are using their faith the wrong way. By the looks of other reviews and comments on the IMDB, it seems people haven’t thought too much about that. People should also pay attention to the fact that despite all the types of people Jimmy meets and the fights they have with each other, at the end of the film they are all together, partying and friendly with one another. I really have to damn the critics about this film. Its rare that a critic actually gives any thought to a comedy. They take them for face value and spew out hate filled reviews that are as intolerant and thoughtless as the same characters this film critiques. This movie is at its heart, a sweet comedy with some underlying social commentary, but our overly PC country would rather be offended by everything, shooting first and asking questions later. Its a crying shame.

The DVD contains some good behind the scenes stuff,including a directors log, production design,storyboard roughs, and a really good commentary track.I find some the best commentary tracks come frompeople who have a repore with each other, like BradPitt and David Fincher, or Kevin Smith and BenAffleck. Jake Gyllenhaal and director Blair Hayes arevery happy, friendly guys who get into a lot of theissues around the film and give a lot of goodinformation. I’d rank it among the best commentarytracks I’ve heard. It actually has replay value. Surprisingly no deleted scenes, as I’ve heard there isa different version of the film out there with somerunning gags about the human waste mechanism in thebubble suit. Not that I’m really interested in that anyways. — The Pretentious Goon

Around the Web: