Film Review: The Bubble

Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Pedro Pascal, John Lithgow, Karen Gillan
Running time: 124 minutes

In the middle of the pandemic, I couldn’t help but think it would be great for someone to write a film or TV show that depicted what it was really like – for posterity. The Bubble, depicting the escapades of a film crew and actors all trying to make a movie in the middle of lockdown, is not exactly “it”. There were high hopes and an incredibly strong cast including Pedro Pascal, John Lithgow, David Duchovny, John Cena, Karen Gillan, Daisy Ridley, James McAvoy, etc, etc. It was also written and directed by Judd Apatow, who’s made some brilliant films in the past, but misses the mark sometimes. I think this is one of those times.

The story is about a nondescript studio attempting to make the sixth movie in a dying blockbuster franchise, "Cliff Beasts". They are up against a virus taking over the world, a group of egotistical actors and competition from Tom Cruise. From going into quarantine, overzealous security, an outbreak of flu and actor anarchy, is the project doomed before it has even begun?

There are a lot of in-jokes and little asides that possibly people in the film industry would have a bit of a chuckle over, and some laugh-out-loud moments, but these are somewhat few and far between. Clips of the film-within-a-film are reminiscent of Mythic Quest – another project which ended up absorbing the pandemic as part of its narrative.

Generally, there’s a rambling, unhinged quality to it, as if we’re all along for a ride without a particular destination or even a map. The start and end are better, while the middle is a swampy mess of quips, slapstick and hallucinatory situations. It made me question whether or not what I was watching was supposed to be real or part of someone’s imagination. Although, in a way, the film stays truer to life than I’m giving it credit for – after all, during the pandemic, we all started to go a bit potty in our own ways, manically baking bread and feverishly working out to Joe Wicks.

Some of the characters are better than others, namely Karen Gillan’s Carol, David Duchovny’s self appraising Dustin and Pedro Pascal’s bananas performance as Dieter. I’m also secretly very fond of Leslie Mann, who only seems to portray the same sort of character but in varying situations. The dialogue, however, is quite weak at times – Apatow always seems to favour the improvisational over the scripted, which doesn't always work.

There’s definitely a self awareness to the whole thing which is summed up beautifully by Fred Armisten’s final lines: “At least we tried to make a movie – they can’t judge us for that. We made something that’s a distraction in these difficult times”. And that, my friends, is absolutely true.

Did you know? Sources told THR that the film was based on stories that Leslie Mann – who is married to director Judd Apatow – was told about the tumultuous production of Jurassic World: Dominion by a member of its cast. Netflix insiders, however, have denied any direct connection between the two films.

The Bubble is now available on Netflix