As Judd Apatow became one of the most important figures in comedy in the 21st century, be it through producing films like Bridesmaids and Superbad, or writing and directing his own films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, plenty of criticisms started to pop up about his work. Beyond his penchant for telling stories about childish adults who have yet to grow up, Apatow also became known for making comedies that easily passed the two-hour mark, thanks to an appreciation for improvisation and storytelling that could meander and feel a bit shaggy in parts.
But despite these complaints about Apatow’s work, his directorial efforts have mostly been strong, even when they’ve leaned more towards the dramatic a bit more (Funny People, This Is 40), or attempted to focus on a star on the rise (Trainwreck, The King of Staten Island). Yet one of the elements that has always tied all of Apatow’s films together is a certain amount of heart, that amongst the dick jokes and immaturity of characters who should know better, there’s something more compelling underneath, and quite often, something personal that Apatow is trying to convey. That, however, is not the case with The Bubble, Apatow’s latest comedy, in which he indulges his worst impulses in a film that becomes little more than a collection of bits and ideas that don’t tie together in a worthwhile way.
As the COVID-19 pandemic looms over film productions, The Bubble has the stars of the 23rd biggest action franchise of all time—Cliff Beasts—reuniting for the sixth installment. The cast and crew get together on a closed film set in England, and after fourteen days of quarantine, begin to film the newest film in the Cliff Beasts saga.
Amongst the actors entering the bubble are Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan), whose career is at an all-time low after the failure of her film Jupiter Rising; Krystal Kris (Iris Apatow), a TikTok star who joins the cast; the on-again-off-again couple Dustin Mulray and Lauren Van Chance (David Duchovny and Leslie Mann, respectively); the frequently high Dieter Bravo (Pedro Pascal), who is obsessed with hospitality worker, Anika (Maria Makalova); and Sean Knox (Keegan-Michael Key), who likes stunts and maybe have accidentally started a religion with his recent book. In addition to this cast is Fred Armisen as the film’s director, Darren Elgan, and a supporting cast that also includes Peter Serafinowicz, Guz Khan, Kate McKinnon, and a whole slew of cameos.
Each member of The Bubble’s cast is a fairly one-note joke, each a shallow caricature of fairly broad celebrity type. While this can be enjoyable at times—as when Pascal’s Dieter decides to get the entire cast high after months of problematic filming—but pretty much every new scenario Apatow and co-writer Pam Brady come up heads exactly where one would expect. Despite its expansive cast and lengthy runtime, The Bubble simply can’t do justice to any of its characters.
But with The Bubble, Apatow is at his least interesting as a comedy writer, with pandemic jokes that already feel exhausted, and parodies of showbiz that are fairly obvious. Especially with a project that he has directed, The Bubble is more on the rails than what we expect from Apatow, and even with his most cluttered scripts, they have his effective utilization of heart to fall back on—which The Bubble simply doesn’t have.
The Bubble also can’t help but feel like Apatow’s mostly improvised film to date, as each scene almost seems to exist outside what just came before. The result is a film that is more of a collection of film industry anecdotes slightly connected through a flimsy narrative. Like Cliff Beasts 6, The Bubble feels like its barely being held together, and almost as if it’s being put together in the moment.
Yet despite the mostly tired jokes and a slapdash way of putting a story together, The Bubble does have its moments. Pascal as Dieter is gleefully over-the-top and one of the few characters that is allowed to embrace the insanity of the situation Apatow has created. On that note, some of The Bubble’s best moments are when Apatow does let these actors play off each other, but puts a structure in place. For example, a drug-fueled montage in the film clearly has a direction it's heading, but allows for a more focused improvisation, rather than just putting these actors in a room and seeing what happened. Also extremely satisfying is Krystal’s TikTok videos, which sees the entire cast going wild with synchronized dances around this gorgeous set.
It’s in those scenes, like the drug binge and the TikTok videos, where we see how well The Bubble can work with some focus, and by comparison, how flimsy the film is without that focus. Apatow has always been a fan of improvisation, but with The Bubble, that reliance on letting the actors go free hits its breaking point. But even worse, The Bubble feels like the least personal film Apatow has directed so far, a film that seems like more of an excuse to just do something during the pandemic, instead of Apatow having something to say. With The Bubble, Apatow leans into the worst of his tendencies, and, unfortunately, that causes The Bubble to burst.
Rating: C
The Bubble is available on Netflix now.