Bubble (2005)

Set against the backdrop of a decaying Midwestern town, a murder becomes the focal point of three people who work in a doll factory.

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writer:

Coleman Hough

Stars:

Debbie Doebereiner, Omar Cowan, Dustin James Ashley

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Debbie Doebereiner	...	Martha
Omar Cowan	...	Martha's Father
Dustin James Ashley	...	Kyle (as Dustin Ashley)
Phyllis Workman	...	Bakery Shopkeeper
Laurie L. Wee	...	Kyle's Mother (as Laurie Lee)
Daniel R. Christian	...	Factory Supervisor
Misty Wilkins	...	Rose
Madison Wilkins	...	Jesse
K. Smith	...	Jake
Decker Moody	...	Detective Don Taylor
Thomas R. Davis	...	Sergeant Davis
Ross Clegg	...	CSI
Scott Smeeks	...	Officer Smeeks
M. Stephen Deem	...	Pawn Shop Owner
Leonora K. Hornbeck	...	Tackle Shopkeeper

Storyline

In a small North American town, the middle age Martha and the twenty and something years old Kyle work in a doll factory. Martha nurses her old father and usually gives a lift to Kyle, who works also in the night-shift cleaning a shovel factory. When the young single mother Rose is hired to work with airbrush and stencils in the factory, she is befriended by Kyle and Martha. In a Friday night, Rose hires Martha to work as babysitter of her two year old daughter Jesse and Martha finds that she is dating Kyle. Rose returns back home early after stealing Kyle's savings, and Martha witnesses Jesse's father Jake accusing Rose of stealing weed and money from his house. On the next morning, Rose is found strangled in her house and Detective Don Taylor interviews Jake, Kyle and Martha along his investigation.

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Plot Keywords:

factory | doll factory | single mother | murder | investigation | 

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Taglines:

Another Steven Soderbergh Experience

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language

Details

Official Sites:

Magnolia Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Banka

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$70,664, 29 January 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$145,382, 19 February 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Extension 765, HDNet Films, 2929 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min 73 min 90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Simultaneously released on cable, DVD and in theaters.

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Connections

Referenced in The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

User Reviews

a beautiful, unconventional film

Minimalist film-making at its finest. A glimpse into the lives of ordinary people, Appalachian blue-collar factory workers, going about their lives – waking up, going to work, doing their jobs, chatting in the break room, having a sandwich, having a cigarette, getting back to work, going home at the end of the day and watching television. The set-up to the defining moment of the film is as realistic a portrayal of regular old boring life as I have ever seen on film, and the set-up is most of the movie. Going into this, I hadn't heard or read anything about the film, and so had no idea what to expect. "But this is from the director of Traffic," I thought. "It'll have to be pretty exciting." Well, exciting is hardly the word. Well-crafted is more like it. I spent the first half hour waiting for something to happen before it finally sunk in that the whole point was to show us what most people's lives, at least outside of the city, are really like. The dialogue could not be more perfect, and the casting director did a remarkable job finding talented but unknown actors. And this is important because, had the acting been awkward, it would have completely undermined the feeling that we are viewing a true story. It doesn't have the feel of a documentary exactly, more like surveillance camera footage shot with high quality movie cameras. It is very convincing. I also found it oddly relaxing. The key event that takes place in the second half of the film is not shown. We see its set-up and aftermath and are left to imagine the details for ourselves. There is an element of mystery, but the revelation, as with everything else in this movie, is subtle.