Synopsis
Sneaking out. Hooking up. Melting down. The cast and crew of a blockbuster action franchise attempt to shoot a sequel while quarantining at a posh hotel.
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Cast
- Karen GillanCarol Cobb
- Iris ApatowKrystal Kris
- Fred ArmisenDarren Eigen
- Maria BakalovaAnika
- Vir DasRonjon
- David DuchovnyDustin Mulray
- Samson KayoBola
- Keegan-Michael KeySean Knox
- Guz KhanHowie Frangopolous
- Leslie MannLauren Van Chance
Recommendations
- 60
Empire
Judd Apatow’s broadest film yet is a patchy collection of Covid-themed comedy cock-ups — but a talented ensemble of performers means you’re never too far away from your next laugh. - 50
Paste Magazine
While attempting to highlight the inconsequential nature of “rich people problems,” the film isn’t incisive or clever enough to parody the very cinematic sensation it’s unintentionally playing into. - 50
The A.V. Club
Even if the characters on screen didn’t become better artists during the pandemic, then Apatow at least should have. With The Bubble, he seems to have mistaken jokes about moviemaking for moviemaking that shouldn’t be taken seriously. - 42
Entertainment Weekly
Both directors have made much better movies; go watch one of those instead. - 42
The Film Stage
Bits and pieces work—an underused Maria Bakalova, in one of her first post-Borat roles, stands out as she contends with Dieter’s advances; there are a few laughs seeing Carol dealing with a crumbling relationship at home with no way to intervene; Dustin placing more importance over this franchise than his newly adopted son––but The Bubble‘s vast majority plays as Day for Night for dummies. Comedy can certainly be extracted from the strange new world we find ourselves in, but Apatow’s project is a meta experiment in search of a purpose beyond delivering a few scant chuckles. - 40
The Guardian
This could have been a good premise, but the basic idea of the pandemic and bubbling up itself now feels spurious and dated, and there just aren’t enough funny lines to carry this film through its punishing 126-minute running time. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
A slapdash comedy with an embarrassment of misused talent. - 33
IndieWire
Apatow gets a lot of shit for making scattershot comedies that run the length of David Lean epics, but the patchwork of scenes that comprise his latest have less in common with “Funny People” than they do “Movie 43,” and might just be aimless enough to make the director’s critics appreciate the flow of his earlier work.
