The Bubble - A Comedy Movie that Might be Fun for Few but not to Most People

After no interesting new movie released on Netflix last weekend, I was glad that this time there was something that looked fun. It also starred an ensemble cast which made me more interested in giving it a try. OK so let's get to it then.

Brief Story Line

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the production of movies was becoming a huge challenge. Gavin (Peter Serafinowicz - The Tick TV series etc) was a movie producer working under his boss Paula (Kate McKinnon - The Spy Who Dumped Me etc) who were producing a big budget sequel of successful Cliff Beast movies. Due to the pandemic, the making of the movie was done in a closed set in England and all the cast and crew had to stay in a hotel.

The main cast included Carol (Karen Gillan - Jumanji: The Next Level etc), Dieter (Pedro Pascal - The Mandalorian TV series etc), Lauren (Leslie Mann - The Croods: A New Age etc), her ex husband Dustin (David Duchovny - The X-Files TV series etc), Sean (Keegan-Michael Key - Playing With Fire etc), Kristal (Iris Apatow) and Howie (Guz Khan - Army of Thieves etc). They were directed by Darren (Fred Armisen - The Lego Ninjago Movie etc) in what would be his feature directorial debut.

With so many troubles on set, especially with the Covid-19 protocols in place as well as the emotional hurdles of being confined in one place for months, how would the production end? You can find them all in this comedy movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As a major fan of movies, obviously looking at a film production albeit in comedic situation was intriguing for me. And this movie had some humorous condition resulted by the absurd behavior of the cast. It was quite fun watching them doing many crazy things during their confinement, but to me the part that made me excited was looking at the numerous cameos of famous stars. 

Aside from those humors, it was also nice seeing how special effects were created, although it might not be new things that you have not seen in behind the scene of a movie. The duration of the movie was not something that I liked as it felt too long. It has 2 hours 6 minutes length including closing credits which had a very brief post end credit scene. Personally to me, there might be too many overly detailed scenes in the early part and middle, particularly those activities during the quarantine, but I liked the scenes that showed the testing and those related with the Covid-19 as it somehow gave realistic feeling.

The cast in general did adequate work to convince us on their challenges during the production. Strangely though, there was not a single character that was my real favorite. In fact, there were few characters that I personally felt were not funny like Howie or those hotel staff such as Ronjon (comedian Vir Das), Bola (Samson Kayo) or Anika (Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm etc). This movie was directed by Judd Apatow who was experienced in directing comedy movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Out and also producer of The Cable Guy, Bridesmaids etc. However, this one is definitely not one of his best works. Fun fact: Leslie Mann is Apatow's wife and Iris is their daughter, so it seemed he is very comfortable working with his own family.

Overall this movie might be entertaining for few but not to most people, as could be seen by the low ratings by critics and audience. For me I was still able to laugh in several scenes but the length of the movie plus few not funny characters made this less enjoyable, although getting surprised by those cameos was still a joy for me. So if you are looking for something like this, then you can give it a try. But if you feel this is not the type of comedy for you, then better avoid it. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars