Review: The Bubble

No joke, The Bubble is the worst thing I have watched this year. Judd Apatow's newest comedy is absolutely terrible. I am exhausted after watching it.

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Where Will You Be When Disaster Strikes?

I can tell you. I was sitting on my couch watching this movie.

Actors Keegan-Michael Key, Karen Gillan, Leslie Mann, David Duchovny, Guz Khan, Iris Apatow, and Pedro Pascal.

Judd Apatow's (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Funny People) latest comedy feature is a disaster from the beginning until the end. Watching The Bubble was frustrating because it wasted its incredible cast, consisting of Karen Gillan, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Mann, Pedro Pascal, and Iris Apatow. For a film that presents itself as a satire and meta-comedy, The Bubble is mostly unfunny throughout. A cringe-worthy script that is overlayered with no real plot or structure as we clumsily move from scene to scene. After the TickTock sequence 20-minutes in, everything took a turn for the worse. We are now three years into this pandemic, so the fact that The Bubble spent so much time with early COVID (when it was still new) that it made it feel incredibly outdated and tiresome. We all felt the pains and anxieties of this virus, the lockdowns, and quarantining for so long. Going back to parody when it all started was not enjoyable due to the film's poor execution.

Our movie throws us into the midst of the pandemic, where a group of actors travel to a closed film set somewhere in England to film the sixth installment of Cliff Beasts. The fictional film of Cliff Beasts has become a wildly successful dinosaur-themed blockbuster franchise during the pandemic era because Hollywood is struggling to create, and people want a distraction from their misery. Yet, the jokes on us because the real misery is not the pandemic, it's watching this film. There was no comedic flow to this picture, and every joke felt forced or outdated with COVID because we are already in 2022. There are some great actors in this movie like Gillan, Bakalova, Mann, and Pascal. But, their talent is squandered throughout, leaving us defeated and drained. There have been few movies or TV shows that were able to successfully capture the anxieties and fears of COVID from an artistic and comedic level. The best example is Bo Burnham: Inside, which I selected as the best movie of 2021.

Actress Iris Apatow

Inside was funny, claustrophobic, and experimental. Burnham's one-man comedy-drama special is an immersive experience full of strong humor, dense commentary, and technical splendor. Inside is the must-watch Netflix special of the pandemic era. One brilliance of Inside was that Burnham never mentioned COVID, lockdowns, or quarantine. But, the very nature of those things is present and artistically captured throughout. This is due to Burnham's masterful skills and craftsmanship as a writer, director, and editor. Inside never outstayed its welcome, clocking in at 87 minutes. Inside knew when it was the right time to wrap it up. I have always been a big fan of Apatow's past work, including films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Trainwreck. So, watching his latest film crash and burn so fast was painful for me. That also includes the agonizing runtime of 126 minutes. No comedies should really feel the need to be over 2-hours long and especially not this monstrosity.

In the past, the long runtimes for comedies are something I have criticized Apatow for doing. All of Apatow's films either get close to or go over the 2-hour mark, and they begin to outstay their welcome. Most notably 2009's Funny People, which clocked in at whopping 146 minutes. I am not saying that all comedies cannot be long, but they need to have a good reason for going over the 2-hour mark. Otherwise, things begin to become very repetitive. In The Bubble's case, not only are things repetitive but they are also tormenting. In theory, the premise of The Bubble is not that bad — sadly — the execution in both the writing and directing falls flat. So, if you are craving a comedy that actually captures the fears and anxieties of COVID in a comedic way, then turn your attention to Burnham's Inside, which is also streaming on Netflix. Or, you can watch The Bubble. But, you have been warned. If only a meteor could take out this movie as it did to the dinosaurs millions of years ago.

Actress Karen Gillan

The Bubble is rated R (Restricted) Some Violence | Drug Use | Sexual Content | Language Throughout.

Stream it on Netflix, if you dare.

Somehow directed by Judd Apatow

Wasted talent consisting of Karen Gillan, Iris Apatow, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Mann, Kate McKinnon, Pedro Pascal, Peter Serafinowicz, and Guz Khan.