musiclovers11 Reviews

Bubble Boy (2001)

Gyllenhaals best performance: A profound and neglected gem!

[10/10 · 4 February 2009]

One of the best films of the last ten years. Gyllenhaal has never equaled this film - his performance is quite sublime. As is every one of the supporting cast. With Danny Trejo and Swoozie Kurtz both stand-outs. The film is an excellently written smart/stupid comedy. As an indictment of organized religion it works beautifully as the hapless Christ figure of Jimmy almost falls pray to gangs, cults, religion, vice and Fabio! 'Dude Where's My Car?' it most certainly is not... There may be juvenilia in this movie but in reality it is smart as a whip. I don't believe Blair Haynes has made any films since this and that is a loss.

All the Real Girls (2003)

What might have been...

[5/10 · 29 November 2007]

I thought that this film would have been possibly the best independent American film I had seen in quite some time if Gordon-Green had just had the courage and panache to finish it a good 20 to 25 minutes earlier. The 'smoking' scene in the bedroom should have been the last scene of the movie - it is bleak, telling, sad, and rings oh so true,. Unfortunately, the movie drags onwards and downwards into contrivance, schmaltz... and becomes trite and silly.

This film is a perfect example of an opportunity wasted. For the first hour and fifteen minutes it's like white-trash Eric Rohmer, then it becomes a pretentious TV-movie, ghastly.

Bubble Boy (2001)

Too smart for the suburbs?

[10/10 · 9 May 2003]

This one slipped through the cracks. This is Jake Gyllenhall's best performance (including Donnie Darko) by far. Deft, sassy, and smart! No wonder it died at the multi-plexes! It works as a hysterically funny film, and as so much more... The only people who accept Bubble Boy are 'outsiders', he is hunted by zealots and is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for love... does that ring any bells? A classic!

The Lacemaker (1977)

1977-2003

[10/10 · 9 May 2003]

What can I say about this movie? It reduced me to tears in 1977, and again in 2003. It doesn't stand up to over analysis, but it rings so absolutely true... which has given the film it's resonance down the years. Isabelle Huppert's performance is sublime, and the last scene one of the most heartbreaking in cinema.

Conceiving Ada (1997)

The worst film I have ever seen.

[1/10 · 5 May 2002]

Yes, In 35 years of film going I have finally viewed the stinker that surpasses all other ghastly movies I have seen. Beating 'Good Will Hunting' Baise Moi' and 'Flirt' for sheer awfulness. This is pretentious blige of the first order... not even entertaining pretentious bilge. The effects are cheap, and worse - pointless.

The script seems to have been written by a first year film student who doesn't get out much but wants to appear full of portent! The acting is simply undescribably bad - Tilda Swinton caps a career filled with vacuous woodeness with a performance which veers neurotically between comotose and laughable 'intensity'. Apparently, some fool out there has allowed the director of this film to make another one... be warned

Bubble Boy (2001)

An unfairly neglected gem!

[10/10 · 12 February 2002]

'Bubble Boy' came and went, and frankly from the premise, cast, ad's etc I thought that this was probably justified. However, friends kept telling me I should give it a chance, so I got it out on video...and it is a great smart little movie! The humour is broad, but never less than smart and pithy. All the principals are excellent, especially Jake Gyllenhaal in the title role, and Swoozie Kurtz as his mother - who delivers some excellent one-liners. The writing is sharp, never descending to cliche. However, it is a hard movie to pidgeonhole - probably why it slipped through the cracks. Don't let the terrible title and it's lack of 'success' fool you...'Bubble Boy' is destined to become a cult classic!