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Bubble Boy

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 28 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Cinco Paul
Ken Daurio
Directed by: Blair Hayes
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 24, 2001
DVD: January 15, 2002
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for language and crude sexual humor
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Marley Shelton, Swoosie Kurtz, Geoffrey Arend, Danny Trejo, John Carroll Lynch, Dave Sheridan, and Stephen Spinella
This coming of age comedy follows the adventures of Bubble Boy Jimmy Livingston as he leaves his protected world in a portable bubble and begins a cross-country journey to win back the girl of his dreams.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
LA Weekly Mark Olsen
Playfully quirky film takes equal-time potshots at its many easy targets -- fundamentalism, intolerance, ethnic stereotypes.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
The bubble-kid moms can whine all they want, but Bubble Boy is a liberated movie --liberated from tastefulness, of course, but also from logic, suffering, consequence, and temperance.
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
It's a shame if the controversy surrounding Bubble Boy distracts people from what a smart, subversive, and genuinely good-hearted film it is.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
When it clicks, the picture should shock you into laughter -- enough to make you wish it were better and applaud its efforts anyway.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart
Bubble Boy simply has the gall to make light of one of the last untouchable left in America: disease.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It's hardly original and rarely laugh-out-loud funny -- the filmmakers constantly fall back on the sight of bounding balloon Jimmy squeezing his way out of one situation after another.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Diana Abu-Jaber
This is a semi-mean-spirited movie; had it remained that way, it could have redeemed itself.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Charles Savage
Belongs to that genre of movie that works hard to achieve a certain twisted and demented wit.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
There's always been room for rudeness in humor. In fact, it can be invigorating. But Bubble Boy goes through the motions of being outrageous when all it's really got is a rage to conform to formula.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Though there are some funny sequences, the frothy Bubble Boy evaporates without delivering enough belly laughs.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Seems bent on creating equal-opportunity offense to many groups, but more often than not is appalling simply for its silliness and lack of comedic control.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Fitfully funny at best, it's a sophomoric, facetious road comedy.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Staff (Not credited)
It seems that in the movies, at least, there is a limit to how far low expectations can take you.
Village Voice Nick Rutigliano
The coke-fried gibbons behind Bubble Boy came to a trailblazing conclusion: The ideal filmic oddity is white, male, and -- a mother's deception notwithstanding -- perfectly healthy.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Hard though this antic farce tries to be outrageous, its satirical jabs at American culture are obvious and juvenile, as is the use of Jimmy's plastic bubble as a goofy metaphor for fear of life.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
This Farrelly brothers "hommage" replicates the mechanics of their work without echoing its spirit or complex tone, and many of the deliberate offenses fail to transcend mere exploitation.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
The bubble-boy niche is thankfully small. John Travolta began his career playing one in a TV movie, but this movie will undoubtedly finish off the genre for good.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
Nearly every attempt at humor in this witless, completely reprehensible "movie" is mean-spirited and stupidly conceived at the expense of some group that deserves better.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
What a bummer! Certainly the meanest-spirited film ever associated with the Disney hallmark.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Bruce Fretts
After enduring only a few minutes of this shrill debacle, you'll feel more trapped in the theater than Jimmy is by his bubble.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Felix Q. gave it a10:
I will defend this one unto the death. Well, maybe not *death*, but you get the point. I actually laughed out loud while watching it on my own, which doesn't happen often. I really am a sap for the puppy-dog eyes male leads, and this movie just scratches the itch in the hard to reach spot in he middle of my back. Metaphorically speaking, that it.
hillary gave it a10:
This movie ROCKS!
Samantha gave it a10:
I Loved this movie. its a true fairytale, and it even has the fairytale ending. its my favourite!
Big K. gave it a10:
Gyllenhall is (in my view) not that great. He picked a winner to star in here though. V.funny.
Chad S. gave it a6:
"Bubble Boy" wants to have it both ways; tasteless, with a sweet underpinning, but for this story of a boy with an immunity disorder to really work, the filmmakers needed to be fearless like the people who made the underrated "Pumpkin". To make fun of disabled people is a risky proposition and "Bubble Boy" cops out, choosing rather to make fun of Hinduism and foreign accents. There's also a missed opportunity to satirize a certain brand of Christian fundamentalism, the hypocritical kind; which triggered a bout of deja vu, and then I remembered, oh yeah, "Saved", another film that played it too safe. "Bubble Boy" seems more like material for a pre-"Hairspray" John Waters vehicle than a mainstream flick, but it's worth seeing because Jake Gyllenhaal is on the verge of stardom. Maggie's brother is immensely likable, even when he's parroting, "500 dollahs!" Ever Carradine should've played his love interest.
Kelsey G. gave it a10:
Yah this is the best movie ever!!! I love Jake Gyllenhaal!!!
Lisa gave it a 10:
This movie rocks, an so does jake, the commentry by him is hilarious, i loved the soundtrack as well, all the songs rock rock on jake:D and proof better hurry up lol.
