Bubble Boy (2001)

"Bubble Boy" is a comedy about a young man who was born without an immune system and has lived his life within a plastic bubble in his bedroom. When he finds out that the woman he has loved... See full summary »

Director:

Blair Hayes

Writers:

Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio

Stars:

Jake Gyllenhaal, Swoosie Kurtz, Marley Shelton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Jimmy Livingston
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Mrs. Livingston
Marley Shelton	...	Chloe
Danny Trejo	...	Slim
John Carroll Lynch	...	Mr. Livingston
Verne Troyer	...	Dr. Phreak
Dave Sheridan	...	Mark
Brian George	...	Pushpop
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Pappy / Pippy
Stephen Spinella	...	Chicken Man
Ever Carradine	...	Lisa, Mark's Sister
Geoffrey Arend	...	Flipper Boy
Beetlejuice	...	Li'l Zip
Matthew McGrory	...	Human Sasquatch
Bonnie Morgan	...	Rubber Woman

Storyline

"Bubble Boy" is a comedy about a young man who was born without an immune system and has lived his life within a plastic bubble in his bedroom. When he finds out that the woman he has loved since childhood is about to be married at Niagara Falls, he builds a portable bubble suit and ventures into the outside world to win her affections.

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Plot Keywords:

niagara falls | plastic bubble | wedding | hand on butt | crude humor | 

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Taglines:

Life is an adventure. Don't blow it.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and crude sexual humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

A buborék srác

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,038,349 (USA) (24 August 2001)

Gross:

$5,002,310 (USA) (12 October 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandeira Entertainment, Germ Free Productions, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the fact that this was filmed in Super 35, "Filmed in Panavision" is listed in the end credits.

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Goofs

When Jimmy is sunbathing with Chloe, Bubble Guinea is next to him, although Chloe gives him Bubble Guinea as a present in the very next scene.

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Quotes

Jimmy: [narrating] I had my reading.
Jimmy, 8 Years Old: [reading a Highlights magazine] I wish they had more than one magazine in the world, Mom.
Mrs. Livingston: So do I, dear.
Jimmy: [narrating] My favourite T.V. show, "Land Of The Lost".
Jimmy, 10 Years Old: [while watching television] I wish T.V.'s had more than one channel, Mom.
Mrs. Livingston: So do I, dear.
Jimmy: [narrating] And I had the best teacher in the whole wide world.
Jimmy, 10 Years Old: [reading an essay] "And then, the Indians decided to move to the reservations, where they could open casinos and sell tax-free cigarettes, and stay out of the ...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofs Land of the Lost (1974)

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Soundtracks

"Disco Inferno"
Written by Leroy Green & Tyrone Kersey
Performed by The Trammps
Courtesy of Warner/Atlantic Records

User Reviews

Roller-coaster freakshow of John Waters-ish fun

It's obvious reading the comments here that the people who got this film completely got it and those who didn't did not understand it at all. I griped about how dumb this looked when it was released (the ad campaign was a joke) and never had any intention of seeing it. But Gylenhaal bowled me over in `The Good Girl,' so I decided I had to see his other films.

The film's certainly not for all tastes, but will appeal to people who've liked John Waters' films from the past decade. Yes, it's politically incorrect. But that's a big part of the fun! Most of the jokes are delivered with a dry sense of irony (case in point, the guy in the ticket booth). The entire cast gives hilarious performances from Swoosie Kurtz in an outrageous psycho-mother performance to `Working's Arden Myrin as head-Lorraine, the psycho cult-follower. A big part of the fun is that all of the characters ARE psycho and off-kilter. Much like the TV-series `The Oblongs,' the psychos in this film aren't scarred by their shortcomings, they revel in them... Which is why it isn't offensive unless you're politically correct and easily offended.

It feels like this movie should have been made 20 years ago. It has a real '80s feel to it, and the multiple `Land of the Lost' references (the spoof scene is hysterical) feel about 15 years out of place. There's no gross-out sexual humor, which is both refreshing and unusual in this post-`There's Something About Mary' age of films. It just has a twisted-wholesome 80s sense about it.

My one and only complaint is the running time. At 83 mins, it left me wanting more. Many of the scenes seem choppy, as if big parts of the scenes are missing (Bubble Boy's confrontation with Dr. Phreak for one). The entire opening sequence seems as if it should have gone on longer, and instead they compensated with voice-overs and musical overdubs to push it forward faster. It wouldn't bother me if there were a `deleted scenes' section on the DVD, but like most of Touchstone's DVD releases, there's little for extras.

All in all, a great little underrated film!