Both self-sufficient and utterly incomplete
Bubble (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:99
Fresh:70
Rotten:29
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: This rigorously stripped down, seemingly mundane little film still manages to be engrossing and creepy.
Theatrical Release:Jan 27, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $70,664
Synopsis: With BUBBLE, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh proves that one doesn't need a huge Hollywood budget and larger-than-life actors to craft an affecting motion picture. Following his... With BUBBLE, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh proves that one doesn't need a huge Hollywood budget and larger-than-life actors to craft an affecting motion picture. Following his star-studded spectacle OCEAN'S TWELVE, Soderbergh returns to the small-scale roots of his breakout hit SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE and his no-budget romp, SCHIZOPOLIS. The result is a genre-bending exercise that is a truly original cinematic experience. Set in and around a doll factory on the Ohio/West Virginia border, the film tells the story of Martha (Debbie Doebereiner) and Kyle (Dustin James Ashley), coworkers who have formed an unlikely friendship. But when the pretty Rose (Misty Dawn Wilkins) arrives, hidden layers of emotion begin to surface, culminating in an unspeakable tragedy. Like a gifted documentarian, Soderbergh uses his nonprofessional cast to present a slice of everyday American life that is unflinchingly, achingly honest. Combined with Coleman Hough's more traditionally crafted plot, BUBBLE becomes something wholly inventive. Shot on digital video by Soderbergh, and featuring a score from former Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard, BUBBLE resonates long after the credits have rolled. At only 72 minutes, the film nonetheless casts a strangely haunting spell. This is the first of several low-budget digital video projects that Soderbergh plans to shoot all across America. [More]
Starring: Debbie Doebereiner, Misty Dawn Wilkins, Omar Cowan, Laurie Lee
Starring: Debbie Doebereiner, Misty Dawn Wilkins, Omar Cowan, Laurie Lee, Kyle Smith, Dustin James Ashley
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Coleman Hough
Producer: Gregory Jacobs
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
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Reviews for Bubble
Soderbergh artlessly presents America's concealed poverty that drives the paltry ambitions of many of its citizens.
"Bubble" is paced very deliberately, like a slowly dripping faucet. Scenes do not seem to be performed, but rather captured like surveillance videos.
Bubble is an intriguing work for other reasons, though: in some ways, Soderbergh takes us back to his iconic debut, sex, lies and videotape, where realism was the film's most powerful weapon.
Appears at first glance to be either a violent attack on the white working poor, or not aggressive enough in its critique of the cultural degradation of that social class.
Not quite Hitchcock, but a satisfying flick, and proof positive that you don't need a big budget or A-list talent to make a decent whodunit.
Life and death among the working poor. Critics hated it because it lacked entertainment value. That's more of a condemnation of them than the film.
Bubble is best considered as a failed-but-occasionally-nifty experiment.
The local atmosphere, filmed on the Ohio-West Virginia border, is rigorously authentic and so is the cast, none of whose members have acted before.
The film is called Bubble, but it represents the first time in ages Steven Soderbergh has worked outside of his personal territory.
Fascinante estudo de personagens, Bubble não é um filme marcado por ações, mas por sutilezas.
Soderbergh simply displays ordinary people as they are and challenges us to determine why smiles become rare blips on the blue-collar radar.
There is an admirable rigor to Soderbergh's technique here, but it leads to a generally unsatisfying experience.
Sans être son effort le plus créatif à ce jour, Bubble demeure une entrée courageuse dans la filmographie d'un réalisateur si bien ancré dans le paysage hollywoodien.
There's an honesty in what Soderbergh's camera has captured that, while not real in the strictest sense of the term, is nevertheless true-to-life.
Latest News for Bubble
July 20, 2007:
Catalina Sandina Morena Joins Soderbergh's Che Films
Did you know that Steven Soderbergh was making a movie about Che Guevara? Starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role? Yeah, me too. But somehow I missed the news that he was... More...
November 28, 2006:
RTIndie: "Little Miss Sunshine," "Half Nelson" Lead Indie Spirit Award Noms
It's time again to celebrate the best that indie-land has to offer. The Spirit Award nominees are out, with "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Half Nelson" leading... More...
July 26, 2006:
Magnolia Digs Into the Crayon Box
You probably know Magnolia Pictures as the distributor of foreign/arthouse fare like "District B13," "Bubble," and "Capturing the Friedmans" -- but... More...
January 26, 2006:
Critical Consensus: Annapolis and Momma Disappoint, While Nanny Casts an Innocuous Spell
Annapolis, the renowned naval military school, is an institution steeped in history; unfortunately, the movie can lay claim to that as well. Starring James Franco as a new... More...
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