Bubble

Very slow and very unnerving. I'm amazed that people can call it boring; nothing happens at all, really, but I was still gripped. A great experiment from Soderbergh, who is fast becoming one of my most admired directors, if not a firm favourite.

More than anything I think about Martha's job. Working at a doll factory, assembling plastic facsimiles of people, staring at unblinking eyes so similar to yours but so cold, day in and day out. The faces she knows the most, hollow molds. A system such as this should only drive you crazy, and you may not have the luck to have a buffer between you and that void. It inherently malforms our ability to connect, swallows our time and manufactures our companions. What chance does this poor woman have?

I'm not really a big fan of using non-actors but in this case it worked beautifully: the performances (largely improvised) are absolutely authentic. These are working-class characters who win your empathy by being genuine, not by being quirky or having simple down-home values. The film may seem pointlessly drawn out to some, but it should definitely appeal to fans of Aki Kaurismaki. It's got the same dry, dry humor and observational pacing.

How to explain this without it sounding like the lamest idea ever? Here goes:three lower class Ohioans eat fast food and talk about their plans to save up some money to do, well, something with it. Sometimes they smoke, and oh, there's a murder. I'm convinced that most people would give up after 10 minutes, but I'm glad I stuck with it. There was something almost hypnotic about the non-professional, mostly improvised acting and slow-burning pace of the film that kept me on its hook throughout.

Extremely gripping and funny piece of cinema verité. The setting of the doll factory is not random. The hopeless lives of these people where they spend their lives creating fake babies, disconnected from eachother, is resonating eerily in the background even though the interactions are amazingly funny. What a feat to make this film without professional actors! I have no idea how Soderbergh made it turn out so credible. -5 for the poorly mixed ac. guitar intermission music. Took me out of it

It hits the nail so much on the head about people doing their job that it's like all the detectives, managers, factoryworkers and cops I've seen in movies before are fake.

Unique and small, the film is hypnotically realistic. You forget you're watching a movie. Really got caught up in the story.

I may revise my score later, but I thought this was so great. I love love loved the non-actors and the slow-paced slice of life vibe. It's definitely not for everyone and I could see a lot of people hating it, but this is definitely my type of movie. I was completely invested in the characters and coming from a rural, working class town, I found them to be 100% convincing and authentic. I just read the alternate ending on wikipedia and think I would have preferred that, but this one worked too.

What the hell?

I know these are non-actors, but this main guy here gives the most monotone deliveries I have ever heard.

One of Soderbergh's most outwardly experimental films, but I don't know that it worked for me. The micro-budget realism is mildly impressive; when working in this style, the results are bound to be hit or miss, and that's exactly what they are here. For the most part, the authenticity of the performances just led to a lot of cringing at painful line deliveries. On top of that, any attempts at further dramatic development are pretty much dead on arrival.

Minimalist indie realism transcends genres to become one of the most memorable films of the 00s.

Interesting premise, disappointing result. The realism is as convincing as it is boring. There's no excuse for the flat, texture- and colorless images either. Realistic movies don't need to be visually uninventive. Watch "Ballast" instead.

I think this makes an interesting companion piece to The Girlfriend Experience, in that they are both nominally about something salacious (Murder and Prostitution respectively) but in reality are about economics. It makes me really want to re-watch The Girlfriend Experience because I didn't really like it when I saw it, but liked Bubble quite a bit more, and I'm not sure why.

A great experiment with real people who improvised dialog from stories from their own lives. The story isn't all that amazing and they aren't professional actors, but there's heart and soul to the movie that can't be replicated with real actors on sets.

Enjoyed it, with qualifications. I rambled here: http://community.flixster.com/movie/bubble#review:820123502_2864898

Straight forward, but just shot with so much poise. Creeps towards a murder mystery in its lazy small town way. Soderbergh gives himself another career challenge and pulls it off with little sweat.

Using non-professional actors, without set dialogue, shot in sequence, and, from what I can tell, very cleverly deciding what information to give the actors and how to direct them, this was an experiment that definitely worked, resulting in a very convincing milieu and a very interesting film. The actors were all excellent, and this is the best Soderbergh I have seen. Perhaps the smaller the budget, the better he directs.

A very impressive and realistic movie - the performances feel very natural, as does the pacing. Not a lot happens but it's fascinating to watch. A real slice of life, with good characterisation and when the barebones plot kicks in it becomes a very interesting study of character too. Short, but very enjoyable. And an excellent view of working class America - not intentionally quirky nor judgemental. And a minimal score by Robert Pollard!

Low-key account, using non-professional actors, of a murder among disconnected people in which everything important remains unspoken; it exerts an odd fascination, akin to eavesdropping.

Soderbergh's micro-budgeted DV excursion is a small breath of fresh air. Using a cast of non-professional actors is a roll of the dice and the results are predictably mixed. The main three actors acquit themselves rather well --they're at their best when they're sitting around chatting at lunch, but whenever the story pumps in some drama the seams start to show. I'm not quite sure what Soderbergh wants us to get out of his forays into experimental mode. They seem to do him more good than us.

69.000

I love a film successfully performed by non-actors, and here Soderbergh nails it. Every line of dialogue is delivered with authentic vernacular and believable cadence.

A really well done mystery that takes its time to establish its characters and setting, and then lets loose with the situation surrounding them. There's one minor plothole or oversight that is driving me crazy about this, but outside of that its great. Super low budget and filmed in a small OH/WV border town with non-professional actors that all do a professional level job.

Could be interesting (60/100) if the length were short. I mean, the plot explodes almost at the end.

Soderbergh's realism drew me in but there's no payoff.

I get what Soderbergh was doing - experimenting with early digital cinema, trying to make a movie as quickly as possible. On the one hand is a portrait of people rarely put on screen, but on the other is awkward, kind of wooden performances from non-actors. It just all feels off, even the cinematography, which is frankly boring. There's a Hitchcockian element that drives this story, but that's like the last 20 minutes or so of a 70+ minute movie. It just didn't pull me in very well.

Amateur actors found at a location of a doll factory. Their houses used as set. Improvised dialogues. Sounds like a great idea for a movie? Definitely!

"Oozes an anonymous contempt sadly appropriate to director Steven Soderbergh's post-Limey artistic downward spiral." - Keith Uhlich

I will admit, I was thoroughly bored throughout this. Maybe I'll give it another shot someday, but I think that it just didn't really work for my personal taste. The performances are remarkably effective and it's certainly put together well from a technical standpoint, but overall I wasn't ever gripped by it enough to not be distracted by other things. And with it only being 73 minutes, that surprised me quite a bit- I shouldn't be bored by something that short. Anyway, it's interesting.

67.250

"...an astonishingly unnerving piece of humanist cinema."

Soderbergh makes the mundane actually quite unnerving and interesting in this small town, simplistic thriller. The film does not aspire to accomplish much; it is not arrogant. It's a fine film with a fine story, backed by the reality in the hometown actors and setting, folk score, and classic Steven Soderbergh environment porn. Recommended, yes indeed

interesting experiment, but not very entertaining