I hate to burst your...

BUBBLE (2005)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Originally viewed in 2006)

Something awe-inspiring happens in the first few frames of Steven Soderbergh's "Bubble." It is nothing we haven't seen before. There are a few shots of some anonymous town, an anonymous trailer and, suddenly, a lonely close-up shot of a woman in bed staring out the window as the first ray of sunshine hits. Her daily routine is about to begin and the absorption of "Bubble" is just starting.

Martha (Debbie Dobereiner) is the first character we see in the film. She lives in a trailer with her elderly father and every morning, she prepares his breakfast. She leaves to pick up her best friend, Kyle (Dustin Ashley), and they proceed to eat at a bakery. After some small talk, they are off to work at a doll factory that is slightly understaffed. Their lunch consists of pointless chatter and junk food. When they leave work, Kyle is off working a second job and comes home to his mother, and he goes off to sleep (and probably smokes a little weed beforehand). Martha, meanwhile, feeds her father and while he sleeps, she works at her sewing machine. Yep, this almost seems like a regular independent film about anomie and listlessness from a boring, indifferent life. You'd almost be right.

Something bursts the routine bubble though when a newcomer named Rose (Misty Dawn Wilkins) is the new employee at the doll factory. She is younger than Martha and lives alone with a two-year-old daughter, and has work experience in airbrushing. Her life is not any brighter as she just barely makes ends meet and has a whiny ex-boyfriend. Rose likes Kyle and they smoke together during their lunch break, almost excluding Martha. Rose and Kyle go on a date, much to the chagrin of Martha, but it is a date where they simply go to the bar and then back to Kyle's house to smoke pot. Nothing earth-shatteringly romantic about any of it, but it certainly bothers Martha who has to babysit Rose's daughter so Rose can go on this date! But Martha doesn't trust Rose and, as we watch her alone in Kyle's room while he fetches a drink, she has every reason to distrust her as well.

I could reveal much more about "Bubble" but it would not be fair to do so. This movie only runs 73 minutes yet it certainly gets under your skin. It is explicitly realistic and has a documentary feel, especially the opening scenes of small-town life, the manufacturing of dolls in the factory, etc. But there is something more to "Bubble" that is harder to describe - the characters live such ordinary lives that something does threaten their existence. You feel it every moment, as if something awful is headed their way and when it happens, it will haunt you for days. But I still cannot reveal it, unlike some critics that have described this film as something that it is not.

"Bubble" is a tremendous experiment for Steven Soderbergh, a director who makes big-budget films like "Ocean's Eleven" and occasionally throws in a "Full Frontal" to spice up his resume. "Bubble's" other experiment is that it was released in theaters while simultaneously available on HD Net cable and DVD. What it will hopefully allow is for independent filmmakers to get more attention and exposure in the future. I am all for that and who else but the innovative Soderbergh could make the indie filmmakers happier.

As a film, "Bubble" is not as extraordinary an account of small-town life as say "Heavy," James Mangold's feature film debut which was a small masterpiece, but this film is not meant to be taken as a character study. It is a study of the routines of living and working in a small town that has nothing to offer. It bothers the characters so much that one of them decides to do something about it. "Bubble" is tragic, moving, haunting and exquisitely made (shot on HD video and with mostly static shots). Soderbergh observes the ennui of such anomie with tactful detail thanks to the incredible cast of non-actors, which helps builds the credibility. Some might argue that he does this too well, but that is precisely the point. Don't let it burst your bubble.