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.
With an appealing cast, an accomplished director (Judd Apatow), and an idea that should be a slam dunk for a satirical comedy, “The Bubble” is unfunny, lazy, and isn’t any good.
Try as they might, nobody can get this clunker off the ground. The film is burdened with too-specific, Hollywood insider jokes that only those who have lived and worked in the entertainment industry would appreciate. It’s a series of lame attempts at comedy that will sail right over the heads of 99.9% of viewers: and that’s a recipe for failure.
Featuring annoying, vacuous characters, the film tells the story of the cast and crew (Fred Armisen, Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal, Keegan-Michael Key, David Duchovny, Leslie Mann, and Guz Khan) of a blockbuster action franchise who quarantine at a fancy hotel to shoot a sci-fi sequel during the COVID pandemic. It’s a terrific premise that could have been a slam dunk. Instead, the likeability of the cast is wasted, and the film is a series of pointless filler. Not only did co-writers Apatow and Pam Brady run out of good ideas, they ran out of ideas, period.
Even worse is the strained (and sad) comedy attempts from the cast, who look bored but try their best, poking fun of the showbiz industry and themselves. I counted on one hand the moments that made me laugh, and even those were worthy of only a slight giggle.
“The Bubble” is a terrible comedy that is painfully unfunny and lazy. What a disappointment.
