Bubble Boy (2001)
Runtime: 84 mins
Theatrical Release: Aug 24, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $4,211,321
Synopsis: BUBBLE BOY is a zany and lighthearted but irreverent road comedy from music video director Blair Hayes. Jake Gyllenhaal (OCTOBER SKY) stars as Jimmy Livingston, a young man born with an immune deficiency, who is forced to spend his life inside a sterile plastic bubble. His overprotective,... BUBBLE BOY is a zany and lighthearted but irreverent road comedy from music video director Blair Hayes. Jake Gyllenhaal (OCTOBER SKY) stars as Jimmy Livingston, a young man born with an immune deficiency, who is forced to spend his life inside a sterile plastic bubble. His overprotective, fanatical right-wing Christian mother (Swoosie Kurtz) doesn't let him have friends, and the only TV show she lets him watch is LAND OF THE LOST. The pretty girl next door, Chloe (Marley Shelton) visits him, and the two become friends. Because they can't touch each other through his bubble, they keep their passions in check, but when Chloe goes to Niagara Falls to marry her creepy boyfriend, Jimmy builds a portable bubble and leaves home for the first time to stop her. BUBBLE BOY may offend some with its jokes involving religion and sex and physical deformity, but it's clear that the filmmakers push the envelope, not simply to shock, but to make cogent points about tolerance. The film features surprisingly strong and funny supporting performances from Vern Troyer (Mini-Me from AUSTIN POWERS) and Fabio. In the lead role, Gyllenhaal projects such genuine wide-eyed sweetness that it's impossible not to root for him. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Marley Shelton, Swoosie Kurtz, Geoffrey Arend, Beetlejuice
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 15, 2002
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35:1
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary
- Featurette
Interactive Features:
- Scene Access
- Interactive Menus
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
The film is only sporadically funny, and it's frequently in poor taste, but it's got energy to spare, and Gyllenhaal's performance gives it a soul.
(Bubble Boy) squanders its strongest moments but at least has the courage to attempt strong moments.
Hayes shows a deft touch with both cartoony slapstick and character-based comedy and manages to create moments of real poignancy in between.
Despite what his mother taught him, despite the evil and injustice he encounters in the world, little Jimmy Livingston is kind and understanding and tolerant of others. That's the moral.
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