Customer Reviews

Bubble Boy

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Ah man! This movie has it all: a singing, happy psycho-brady bunch cult, old people, a Hindu ice cream man, the mini-me guy being tossed around, a guy in a bubble, and Fabio. I apologize to all the people who missed this one because it slipped by through the theaters and to video without anyone noticing because everyone's so PC-friendly, but the truth is, this movie was made by Disney. I don't want to get too deep about the movie because if you want substance, this certainly is not the one for you, but it's also not as shallow as it seems...there is substance in it, amazingly, thanks to the acting chops of the Bubble actor; he did a good job humanizing the wierdo. It's cleverly written, cleverly acted, and man, did I mention Fabio is in it? I bet even Disney was surprised it was funny and then I bet Disney was even more surprised it did lousy. Don't let the concept scare you, it's on the floor funny in the tradition of Rat Race (not that Rat Race was so great, mind you), Road Trip, and Zoolander. It the perfect friday night movie...I recommend, I recommend! Oh, one last thing, there's a girlie mud wrestling thing with the bubble boy...curious? yes, the irrevent humor of it all! Go rent, then buy. (moment of seriousness: it really is a very funny movie, i think even Ebert liked it...didn't he?)

I must say that I was shocked at just how funny this movie was. I put off seeing it for a while because I figured it would be a let down. I cannot believe how wrong I was. This movie was hysterical from beginning to end. The entire concept of the movie was great and it was played out perfectly by the case of characters involved. Somewhere along the line I did begin to realize that the movie would have to end with him not having to live in the bubble anymore, but even if you know that much there is still nothing spoiled. The biker gang, the cult and the phreaks were all funny and very much likeable. I cannot think of any part of this movie that should have been done differently. The cow scene was funny, the cult running over motorcycles was great and the scene in the plane and car with the kid talking to the old guys about the woman was hysterical. Do not overlook this movie. It was a feel good, life is great type movie that just makes you feel like everything is going to be ok afterall. Check it out, it's a definate must have addition to anyones DVD collection. One last thing, it has a scene with an all chick band named Betty Blowtorch, the lead singer/bass player (Biannca Halstead, pretty sure that is her last name) was killed in a car accident in December of 2001. So it was cool to see her in the quick cameo.

Too many times are funny movies, comedians, ect... sacrificed to the alther of Political Correctness. I think this movie is one case. The main character in this movie, played extreamely well by Jake Gyllenhaal is a victim of an auto immune disease that makes him unable to live outside his artificial plastic room his parents of built for him. Sounds depressing? Well it isn't, his mother, a neurotically clean, religeous, uptight lady played by Swoozy Curtz and his father are the perfect foil to the main characters naive charm and goofy attitude. When he first meets the sexy neighbor girl that he has been staring at for years he thinks that the proper way to greet her is as "The Whore next door" since thats all he's ever heard her called.
They slowly become friends and there are several great scenes as when he dresses up as a gold fish swimming in a bowl for Halloween. You also start to get the idea that she is attracted to him. However, she eventually starts dating a motorcycle riding tough guy who has no redeeming qualities and goes off to Niagra falls to get married.

this is where the road film takes off. The main character gets into his bubble suit to try to prevent the wedding, I won't go into ever great joke, situation, or character actor, although I could spend several minutes on the hilarious scene when he is picked up by a cult. He eventually makes it to niagra falls but the journey was the great part of this film
Suffice it to say that if you liked something about Mary, The Big Lebowski, and Rat Race, you will love this film.

If you didn't like those movies, then by all means, agree with the PC police, make a comment such as "How can they make a film about this, that is terrible" and do not see this film.

The funniest movie of the year! Bubble Boy stars Jake Gyllenhaal (October Sky, Donnie Darko) and Marley Shelton (Valentine, Sugra and Spice) in a story about a young man, Jimmy Livingston who was born without any immunities forcing him to live in a bubble like surrounding. He feels he has everything when suddenly he falls in love with the girl next door named Chloe. Chloe and Jimmy become fast friends, when suddenly Chloe's boyfriend proposes, leaving Jimmy alone. Jimmy decides that he has to stop the wedding and confess his love to Chloe, so he builds a portable Bubble suit, and sets of to Niagra Falls. He meets rockstars, freaks, a cult, and much more on his way to Chloe.

This movie does not make fun of people with the disease at all, Jimmy is a hero. This movie is hillarious and will keep you laughing the whole time. The DVD is great except it should have more stuff on the adorable Jake Gyllenhaal, so buy it today! It's worth it! ;)
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I remember when the previews for Bubble Boy came out around late summer of 2001. I recall thinking, "Well, this movie looks a bit dumb, but it definitely looks like a guilty pleasure." I'm sure you will all agree that some movies can be very dumb yet extremely enjoyable to watch. About four years ago, I never got around to watching Bubble Boy. Then, just yesterday, the film appeared on Comedy Central. I was excited to see it, expecting a fun film with an admittedly stupid plot (think Not Another Teen Movie, which I saw on Comedy Central last weekend).

It turns out that Bubble Boy is actually NOT the stupid yet fun movie that the previews lead it on to be. There is a real point to the film; a boy named Jimmy who is born without immunities is entrapped in a bubble and completely smothered and sheltered by his parochial pseudo-Christian mother. She does not ever let him leave the bubble in his room, and while it is commodious enough for him to play guitar, sing and dance, it is a disgustingly limited way to live. However, there is light in his life. The attractive yet compassionate girl next door, Chloe, takes an interest in him. Unfortunately, there are a couple great opportunities for Jimmy to kiss her and he blows it by not letting her in his bubble out of fear. As a result, she starts going out with the wrong guy, a mullet-wearing, egotistical jerk who doesn't know the right time to put his hands on his woman. After a short while, the conceited clod asks Chloe to marry him in Niagra Falls, and after disappointment with Jimmy's attitude, Chloe decides to go through with it. This is when Jimmy realizes what he has lost, and decides that he has to go to Niagra Falls and stop the wedding in order to tell Chloe how he really feels and rescue her from her soon-to-be husband.

On his journey, he encounters an ignorant toll-booth operator, a bus full of cultmembers ("Always happy, never gay!"), a Latin gangster with a motorcycle (and eventually his crew), an East Indian who drives a van, a bunch of circus freaks (controlled by the character who played Mini-Me in Austin Powers), a one-hundred year-old taxi-cab driver who looks as if he is about to die at any second and more. First off, I want to address those who were politically correct and complained of any stereotypes that they felt were fueled in this movie. Political correctness killed the cat! Quit being prude and enjoy the movie! First of all, I am a Latin guy and I loved Slim and his crew. I found it hilarious when Jimmy started saying "vato" like Slim even though he didn't really know what it meant. Slim, like Jimmy, also has a woman that he let get away with a "buttoned-down, 'I'm Gonna Get A Job' kinda vato'." He refers to this hot, sexy woman as "Wildfire." Well, without giving anything away, let me just say that when I found out who Wildfire was, I was laughing my a$$ off. The old man who drives the taxi also has regret about losing a woman, a beautiful "China doll" as he puts it. These characters are also caring enough to encourage Jimmy to go for Chloe and not make the same mistake that they did. Every character that Jimmy meets on his trip (aside from the cult and Mini-Me's character) is not simply a stereotype; they are allowed to be real people with feelings and express themselves like everyone else. Are groups made fun of? Yes, but it's equally distributed. While you might have the stereotypical East Indian, you also have the overly-"Christian" white mother who has a somewhat unsurprisingly wild romantic history.

I found this movie hilarious, inspirational, fun and touching. You can't always judge a book by its cover, and you also can't always judge a movie by its preview. I also found out that the star of Bubble Boy also starred in Donny Darko (a connection I had never made). Both are great movies. Go and watch both of them if you haven't already!

Little over a year ago, on a typically hot, steamy summer day, I recall seeing the previews to what looked to be a hilarious movie called "Bubble Boy". I knew right away that whether I would see it at the theater or would wait for it on cable, that I had to see it one day in the future.

Today, I finally saw the movie. Was it worth the wait? Well, yeah, it was. Before seeing the film and having somebody tell me about actual people who've had to live inside a bubble all their lives, I never even knew that there was a such thing! I thought that it was just a unique idea for a movie.

Upon watching "Bubble Boy", it wasn't really what I was expecting it to be. It was a good movie, yes, but not what I would call 'hilarious'. It has a few parts that made me laugh out loud, but I was more compelled to see how the bubble boy himself would enjoy life outside of his house and to see if his compelling journey would yield good results in the end.

I have to say that "Bubble Boy" wasn't really disappointing in any way. It wasn't as funny as I thought it'd be, but it's still a great movie to watch from time to time. If I have any complaints, it's that 'happy, shiny' group of people that won't leave the bubble wonder alone; they get on my nerves.

If you're a fan of entertaining movies, especially ones that present a sort of realistic idea and add a little bit of fiction and comedy into the mix, give "Bubble Boy" a chance. I recommend it.

It's a shame this movie didn't make any money because it was just great. Personally, I don't believe they make fun of the disease in any way, I just think they were trying to make a funny movie, and they did. The actors were perfect. The story was perfect. I will definitely own this DVD when it is available. If you give this movie a chance, you just might like it. Rent or buy it when it is available, you won't be disappointed!!

This remarkable film, unfortunately, has roused the ire of dunces among the politically correct. But viewed without any vision distorting agenda, it is a gentle, affectionate defense of the different among us. Its "normal" people( the mother and father, the neighborhood teenagers, the Nebraska farmers) are the ones who are threatened by variety, and the principal speakers of slurs and insensitivities directed at the loners and outsiders. The Bubble Boy himself progresses with great charm from boyhood to manhood (not only does he have a scary first ..., but he opts, in traditional masculine fashion, for risk over safety in seeking to follow after his "lost" love). Finally, he becomes, an actual hero, choosing to die for love rather than remain alive in self-preserving isolation. Clearly, his condition of no immunity is presented as a metaphor rather than an intended case history. In his sweetness and male resolve, he becomes surprisingly if amusingly the ideal millenial man. As the Bubble Boy, the handsome yet wonderfully comic, rubber-faced Jake Gyllenhaal is unbeatable. His mother, the wacky Swoozie Kurtz, matches his top-notch performance. This film, because the offended who hear words and ignore contexts have denigrated it, will probably only find its duly large, appreciative audience several years from now.

I am a guy who is well into my 30s. As a consequence I thought that there would never be a movie that would make me laugh as much as the movies when I was a kid. I was wrong.

The first time I was even AWARE that there was a movie called Bubble Boy it was when I saw the DVD jacket. My initial thought was "This movie MUST be crap." It starred a lot of young actors whom I wasn't familiar with as well as some I hadn't heard of in years. I didn't think about it again until one night it was on one of the movie channels and I figured "why not?". I haven't laughed so much at a movie certainly in recent memory and maybe EVER.

Jake Gyllenhaal does a FANTASTIC job in this movie as Jimmy. Jimmy is forced to make a trek across country in his portable bubble to save his girlfriend Chloe (Marly Shelton) from marrying the mullet headed Mark. Every step of this journey is a SCREAM, from the surly Bus Depot attendent to the hundred year old cab driver "Pappy". Each character is played with great talent.

The big star in this movie is Gyllenhall. As Jimmy he is a wide eyed innocent that you just CANT help but love. He's beaten, he's abused and his bubble takes some serious punishment yet he goes on smiling all the way. Anyone who doesn't like Jimmy probably hates puppies and pulls the wings off of flies. Marly Shelton, as Chloe, is the kind of girl any guy would love. She's sweet, pretty and just all around adorable.

Another big star of this movie is the music. I can almost guarantee you will find something you recognize as it delves into music from today and back into the 70s!

Bottom line is you will like Bubble Boy. Most of you will LOVE Bubble Boy. Its a very very silly movie. It has absolutely NO redeeming social value.... but its HYSTERICAL. There was Caddyshack.. there was Animal House and there is Bubble Boy. Check your IQ at the door and just relax! :)

When I first saw previews for this movie, I giggled a little, but was certain I wouldn't ever actually watch the movie. It seemed a tad bit silly to me. That is, until a friend of mine brought the movie by. Absolutely hysterical!!
Jimmy (Jake Gyllenhaal) Livingston was born without an immune system. He spends his life in a sterile environment - a plastic bubble. His mother, played by Swoosie Kurtz, takes it upon herself to teach him everything, from grade school to the facts of life. She is obsessed with keeping Jimmy in a sterile and sin-free environment. She succeeds until Chloe, played by Marley Shelton, moves next door. When Chloe looks at Jimmy, she doesn't see him as a freak, but as a wonderful, interesting boy that she would love to know better. After years of friendship that can go no further past the bubble, Chloe starts dating. Jimmy's perfect world shatters when Chloe announces that she is going to Niagara Falls to get married. Heartbroken, Jimmy decides to stop Chloe from making the biggest mistake of her life. He builds a portable plastic bubble and sets off for Niagara Falls. What follows is an incredible adventure full of laughter and mayhem.
Jake Gyllenhaal is great in his portrayal of the naive bubble boy who realizes all he's been missing while trapped within the plastic bubble. Swoosie Kurtz is absolutely hysterical as Jimmy's mother. I couldn't stop laughing. In fact, when I was forced to miss the ending of the movie, I ran to the local video store to rent it. This movie is highly recommended to those who don't mind the stomach cramps they are likely to get from all the laughing they'll be doing!!