Bubble Boy (2001)

Andrew wanted to watch Bubble Boy because he has a thing for Jake Gyllenhaal. Which is fair enough as he's looking mighty fine here, 9 years before he muscled up to play The Prince of Persia. Released the same year as Donnie Darko, Bubble Boy is very far removed from that strange, dark, excellent movie. This is a broad comedy that while strange, is bright and funny and despite my reservations and the ridiculousness of it all, I found myself enjoying it a lot. It helps that it's only 80 mins long too, there's no padding and it doesn't outstay its welcome. 

Gyllenhaal is Jimmy, the Bubble Boy, a boy born with no immunities who is forced to live in a plastic bubble world, sealed off from any potential infection by his crazy Christian fundamentalist mother. Out his window he spies the 'whore next door' Chloe who becomes his friend, and who he inevitably falls for. She gets engaged to someone else and when Jimmy realises he loves her and she may feel the same about him, he sets off on a trip from California to New York state to stop Chloe's wedding. 

Jimmy's journey across the states involves him getting kitted out in a mobile bubble, and sees him meeting a scary religious cult, a gang of bikers, an Indian ice-cream and curry seller and various other weird and wacky groups, including a travelling freak show. The journey is a non-stop collection of gags and set pieces that pretty much all hit the mark. There's probably myriad opportunities to be offended if you were so inclined, but I thought it was great fun. There was one bad taste bit where a cow is run over by a truck, but mostly the movie shies away from any unnecessary gross out humour. Gyllenhaal's performance as Jimmy, experiencing the real world for the first time, is exuberant and perfectly pitched, he has a real knack for comedy that he's not really explored in his more recent movies. I'd recommend Bubble Boy to anyone who wants a fun diversion for an hour or so.