The Bubble Review

Judd Apatow's latest film, The Bubble is a star-studded comedy about the difficulties of making the latest installment in one of the world's biggest franchises, in the midst of the Pandemic. Karen Gillan stars as Carol Cobb, an actress who passed on the opportunity of reprising her role in Cliff Beasts 5 to try to chase some possible awards clout. But since she whitewashed the role, critics weren't a fan and her film flopped. Coming off that dud, her agent tells her that coming back for the sequel, Cliff Beasts 6 is a sure bet to bounce back in the eyes of the public. The only catch is the ongoing pandemic everyone on earth is going through, so in order for the movie to be made and keep proper covid protocols, all the cast must quarantine and live in a private hotel with no contact with the outside world. Will hilarity ensue once all of these pretentious stars go crazy with only their own egos to keep them company? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no.

There's no sugar coating this, The Bubble is truly awful. It's honestly a shock that Judd Apatow could be capable of directing something that is so completely laughless. The cast he's assembled is incredibly talented, and everyone is spinning their wheels trying so hard to jumpstart SOMETHING...but their efforts are in vain as the film sputters along. When you're able to successfully waste Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal, Leslie Mann, David Duchovny, Fred Armisen, Keegan-Michael Key, and Maria Bakalova, you're doing something wrong. The Bubble is over two hours long and let me assure you, you feel every second of that run time and more. It felt twice as long as it actually was and it was so hard to get through. Comedies, if done right, should be one of the easiest genres to watch. This just made me want to claw my eyes out. Maybe, it turns out that movies about the pandemic don't help us escape the pandemic?

But maybe the most annoying thing about The Bubble is the sheer laziness of its comedy. It takes more to get a laugh these days than simply mocking Tik Tok or referencing Gal Gadot's Imagine video. Comedy writers, please do better. And audiences, do yourself a favor--if you find yourself tempted to watch this movie...just don't. Apatow kind of makes a half-hearted explanation for the film in the closing credits, with a line, essentially saying "Hey! people should just be happy we tried to entertain them in tough times." While I can kind of appreciate the sentiment, it kind of casts us all as beggars and tells us we can't be choosers. I beg to differ.

RATING 2/10