Bubble (2006)

What a waste of my time!!!

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Masterful Cinema

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I'm not sure if I've ever seen a film exactly like "Bubble". It kind of evokes other movies, but, overall, it's really it's own thing, totally separate from anything else I've really seen. It's an offbeat spin on the "love triangle" and "detective" subgenres while disguising itself so well with a realist, yet somehow still mildly surrealist (in parts) atmosphere so well that you don't really notice it's either one of these things in any sense. Instead, you are sucked into this quirky story that twists and turns in all sorts of unexpected directions. IMDb lists it as a crime-drama-mystery film and, for what seems like a majority of the movie, it does not feel like any of those genres. As a matter of fact, the first part of this movie feels like if the "meh" emoji (sorry for having to reference those f*cking things, but this was the best analogy I could come up with off the top of my head) was a film subgenre and this was the pioneering film of said subgenre. But, I still enjoyed it immensely...so it can't just be the cinematic equivalent of a "meh" emoji I guess, although there is plenty of mumbling and a really slow pace that softly grows on you as you watch it. There's the occasional moment of pure weirdness which is followed by a completely mundane exchange, often littered with a unique insight into the minds of your average everyday person and how they may not be so "average" after all. Daily life is more fascinating than anyone gives it credit for being, so sometimes it seems that something awful has to happen before we notice that this life we live isn't JUST some repetitive, boring streak of pointless years polluted with simplicity and labor. Life can also be mysterious, adventurous, and humorous, which is what this film really is. From one minute to the next, it evoked some kind of emotional response from me, and these responses ranged from being mild to moderate to major. There's laughter, there's tears, there's suspense, this movie's got it all but you don't even notice until you reflect on it. The movie also has long pauses, wooden acting, and awkward dialogue, but you don't notice that very much either, and when you do notice it it's because you're impressed with how realistic and successful these elements are, while in almost any other movie they'd be sort of cringe worthy, and not in a good, intentional way. It takes a true professional like Steven Soderbergh to create such a bizarre, contemplative, gloomy, depressing, hilarious, and engaging film packed with tonal shifts and a total lack of real good or bad guys feel more natural and realistic than most of the movies to be released during this century so far.

It's a small non-descript town. Martha (Debbie Doebereiner) is middle age, works with her best friend 20something Kyle (Dustin James Ashley) in a doll factory, and takes care of her father. They live boring unimpressive lives. Young Rose (Misty Wilkins) starts a new job at the factory, and is befriended by Kyle and Martha. Rose is a single mom to 2 year old Jesse and wants to leave this boring town. Rose hires Martha to babysit her daughter for a night. It turns out that Rose is going out with Kyle on a date. Rose steals Kyle's money. She goes home and Jesse's daddy Jake barges in accusing her of stealing his weed and money. Martha is shocked and Rose is angry. The next morning, Rose is dead strangled in her home. Detective Don Taylor investigates interviewing Jake, Kyle and Martha.This is basically an indie shot by an expert Steven Soderbergh. I guess he's trying to give this a feel of realism by using non-actors in the roles. The dialog is weak. It is very aimless for the first half. The acting is sometimes lifeless which is expected from these regular folks. Although Debbie Doebereiner has a good energy about her. She could be an interesting actress if she wants to. Dustin James Ashley mumbles way too much. This is an interesting exercise. At least, it showed me that acting matters. Also real people doesn't automatically make it realistic.

Bubble (2005)I think any movie by Steven Soderbergh was at least worth looking at if only because he takes what you might call safe chances. But they are chances. Some are brilliant or at least very successful, such as "Erin Brockovich" or "Traffic," and others are well done and worthy side trips like "Che" or even the recent "Contagion." But then there are clunkers like the well-intentioned "The Good German" shot using vintage equipment and trying hard to be the real deal 50 years late.So "Bubble" looks like something straight from the Indie world--a small unknown cast, a simple kind of location shooting, modest production values, and full of decent sincere acting. And a decent idea, at least enough to draw you in: a group of people work in a struggling doll factory in an Ohio town and a new employee gets murdered. In a very believable almost documentary way the local detective looks for answers. And the murderer is found.Well folks, that's it. There's a very long build up to the crime, setting up in fifty minutes what a good noir would do in five. We get to know the small cast of very ordinary folk. They are mostly likable, but all a bit quirky. (They live in West Virginia, actually, across the river from the factor.) There is no real suspense or curiosity required during this time, just patience. Then there is the murder (not shown, just told). And the detective makes his rounds interviewing each of these people we now know as viewers. And we know kind of who might have done it or why. And then the crime is solved (and the perp is no surprise, and is intentionally not meant to be). And then the movie ends.I don't know if there's some kind of surreal intention here, or if it really is about how mundane life is in Middle America even when a killing is involved. But it's not enough. The movie is short (75 minutes) so it's not the end of the world (as "Tree of Life" was for a lot of people, or "Barry Lyndon" depending on your taste). So try it out. The doll factory scenes are briefly interesting. The side characters are subdued and fine. The cop is wonderful and a bit drab. You might decide this is a film about relationships since that ends up being the core of the movie, or about personality types (since these get dissected by the cop interviews) but if so, there are a million ways to make this more moving or interesting or odd or anything.Focused mediocrity?

This is a pretty good movie. The minimal and familiar plot structure is used more as an attempt to let non-actors create their own character development. Steven Soderbergh's directing keeps it moving and appealing, even when the dialog falls into the kind of stuff that even the people talking about it stop listening to. It's almost like a proto-neo-realist work, spending more time focusing on the relatively humble surroundings and characters than really making a point about anything.I give huge kudos to the actors and a few nods to the directing. This movie is much more likely to just be known as a failed experiment in releasing in theatres, television, and on DVD at the same time than it is for its more compelling aspects. I don't mind having watched it, but I can't really see remembering it for some time.--PolarisDiB