Bubble Boy (2001)
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29% of critics liked it
(82 reviews) -
52% of users liked it
(226,698 ratings)
Jake Gyllenhaal, the young star of the critically well-received October Sky (1999), follows up that film with this offbeat comedy. Gyllenhaal stars as Jimmy Livingston, a teenager with an immune system deficiency who has spent his entire life living in a plastic bubble under the doting,… More Jake Gyllenhaal, the young star of the critically well-received October Sky (1999), follows up that film with this offbeat comedy. Gyllenhaal stars as Jimmy Livingston, a teenager with an immune system deficiency who has spent his entire life living in a plastic bubble under the doting, overprotective care of his mother (Swoosie Kurtz). Jimmy is in love with his next-door neighbor Chloe (Marley Shelton), so when he learns that she has left for Niagara Falls in order to be married, he's devastated. He quickly assembles a portable "bubble suit" and sets out on a 2,755.8-mile odyssey in order to stop her and proclaim his affection. Along the way, Jimmy experiences a number of adventures, including encounters with freaks, bikers, rock stars, and a cult. Bubble Boy is a comic riff on the classic TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), which starred a young John Travolta. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Directed By
- Blair Hayes (II), Blair Hayes
- Written By
- Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio
- Genres
- Comedy
- In Theaters
- Aug 24, 2001 Wide
- Studio
- Touchstone Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Dan Via, Washington Post
Hayes shows a deft touch with both cartoony slapstick and character-based comedy and manages to create moments of real poignancy in between.
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Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
Seldom has a more misguided movie escaped from a major studio than Touchstone's Bubble Boy.
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Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
This amazingly tasteless, gross-out comedy is full of cruel jokes, stupid characters, schmaltzy sentimentality and situations that make no sense.
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Nick Rutigliano, Village Voice
Hollywood monstrosities all, and boy are they scary!
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Bruce Fretts, Entertainment Weekly
After enduring only a few minutes of this shrill debacle, you'll feel more trapped in the theater than Jimmy is by his bubble.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Jake Gyllenhaal
as Jimmy Livingston
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Swoosie Kurtz
as Mrs. Livingston
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Marley Shelton
as Chloe
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Danny Trejo
as Slim
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John Carroll Lynch
as Mr. Livingston
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Stephen Spinella
as Chicken Man
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Verne Troyer
as Dr. Phreak
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Ryan Sheridan
as Mark
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Brian George
as Pushpak
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Patrick Cranshaw
as Pappy/Pippy
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Ever Carradine
as Mark's Sister
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Geoffrey Arend
as Flipper Boy
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Matthew McGrory
as Human Sasquatch
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Bonnie Morgan
as Rubber Woman
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Jason Sklar
as Shlomo
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Randy Sklar
as Dawn
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Fabio
as Gil
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Ping Wu
as Emcee
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Zach Galifianakis
as Bus Stop Man
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Boti Ann Bliss
as Cashier


