Bubble

Lisa Swartzbaum of Entertainment Weekly opened the New York Film Festival screening of "Bubble" by introducing the writer Coleman Hough (a woman, to my minor shock). She said about 10 words and the screening began.

Upon the first scene, any film guru would note that it's amazingly captured on HD. Some scenes I couldn't believe weren't 35mm.

"Bubble" doesn't belittle the simple people it depicts, as many Hollywood-takes-on-small-town-USA films do, but really gives them great depth and complexity. Coming from a small town myself, I felt like I knew the people that were on the screen.

The neurotic "love" triangle that emerges in the film is wonderfully dark and comedic, as is the film entirely. From the assembly of the dolls in the factory to the simple lunch break conversations, everything has a seeded, underlying element of humanity that is both jocular and haunting.

Without giving away anything damaging to the story, "Bubble" is a great escape from Hollywood for both Soderbergh and the public alike with amazing performances by the non-professional leads and supporting cast and an ending that will make you say "Huh?"

8/10 (and for as much as I paid for tickets to the NYFF, Soderbergh should've been there dammit!)

My husband and I saw Bubble at the Little Theatre in Rochester, NY on January 27. We went in expecting to enjoy it since we enjoy all kinds of films, and the subject matter resonates with us as working class people in our 40s. Most of the audience appeared to be upper middle-class people in their 50s and 60s. I sensed by the end of the showing that they did not like it. They probably also would not have liked Gummo, the film this one most reminded us of. People coming out of the earlier showing made comments like, "Well, what was THAT all about?" I hope that responses like that don't keep Soderburgh from making all the rest of the films in his planned series. More people need to think about the issues raised in Bubble.

Notable issues: Repressed emotions, due to constant care-taking of others, spending most of your time and energy just getting by, working in monotonous jobs, working all the time, not working at all, just surviving, just getting by. What is the definition of "friend"? What is art?

Notable images: The artistry involved in actually manufacturing the dolls, resemblance of Martha's face to the dolls' faces, actually seeing the emotions on the actors' faces when Rose is introduced to the other workers, Jake's apartment walls, still shots of the doll parts (especially the ones with the patent leather shoes on the feet), Kyle shoveling sawdust at the shovel factory.

The ending: It is simple and jarring. But it was enough.

The performances: Dignified and confident. I can't imagine myself doing as well as they did. They should feel proud of their accomplishment.

Bubble (2005)

I think any movie by Steven Soderbergh was at least worth looking at if only because he takes what you might call safe chances. But they are chances. Some are brilliant or at least very successful, such as "Erin Brockovich" or "Traffic," and others are well done and worthy side trips like "Che" or even the recent "Contagion." But then there are clunkers like the well-intentioned "The Good German" shot using vintage equipment and trying hard to be the real deal 50 years late.

So "Bubble" looks like something straight from the Indie world--a small unknown cast, a simple kind of location shooting, modest production values, and full of decent sincere acting. And a decent idea, at least enough to draw you in: a group of people work in a struggling doll factory in an Ohio town and a new employee gets murdered. In a very believable almost documentary way the local detective looks for answers. And the murderer is found.

Well folks, that's it. There's a very long build up to the crime, setting up in fifty minutes what a good noir would do in five. We get to know the small cast of very ordinary folk. They are mostly likable, but all a bit quirky. (They live in West Virginia, actually, across the river from the factor.) There is no real suspense or curiosity required during this time, just patience.

Then there is the murder (not shown, just told). And the detective makes his rounds interviewing each of these people we now know as viewers. And we know kind of who might have done it or why. And then the crime is solved (and the perp is no surprise, and is intentionally not meant to be). And then the movie ends.

I don't know if there's some kind of surreal intention here, or if it really is about how mundane life is in Middle America even when a killing is involved. But it's not enough. The movie is short (75 minutes) so it's not the end of the world (as "Tree of Life" was for a lot of people, or "Barry Lyndon" depending on your taste). So try it out. The doll factory scenes are briefly interesting. The side characters are subdued and fine. The cop is wonderful and a bit drab.

You might decide this is a film about relationships since that ends up being the core of the movie, or about personality types (since these get dissected by the cop interviews) but if so, there are a million ways to make this more moving or interesting or odd or anything.

Focused mediocrity?

I really enjoyed this DVD. Especially after seeing Pirates II the day before. complete opposite in terms of overall complexity. But actually more engaging than Pirates. Johnny, Keira and Orlando as the main 3 actors in Bubble? Wouldn't work. Low key actors is the key to this film. The sets and scenery are genuine too. The plot is the classic intrigue. The alternate ending would have detracted from that. The ambiguity of certain scenes adds to the interest. The DVD extras are enjoyable as well. Soderbergh's commentary was interesting. The interviews of the main actors, also good. The alternate ending is worth checking out. The "making of" segment, also enlightening.

Bubble was a pleasant experience with a solid script, great performances and sharp direction. With echoes from Aki Kaurismäki's work, Soderbergh gives us a intimate movie which borderlines between a tragicomedy and a mystery tale.

I expected the low budget to show, but this movie was absolutely beautifully shot and I still don't believe that the equipment fit in one van... The actors were very good, and it's hard to believe they weren't professionals.

All in all, a very good film which I plan to view several times. I am left eagerly awaiting the next movie in Steven Soderbergh's series of low-budget movies shot in America.