Bubble Boy

Directed by Blair Hayes, Bubble Boy follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jimmy Livingston as he embarks on a road trip to tell his love interest (Marley Shelton’s Chloe) how he really feels about her – with the one snag being that Jimmy’s life-threatening autoimmune disorder keeps him confined to a bubble. It’s a goofy premise that’s employed to somewhat erratic yet mostly entertaining effect by Hayes, as the filmmaker, armed with a script by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, delivers a perpetually irreverent comedy that does, at the outset, benefit from its quirky sensibilities and agreeable performances – with, in terms of the latter, Gyllenhaal’s magnetic and often very funny turn matched by Swoosie Kurtz and John Carroll Lynch’s top-tier work as Jimmy’s off-kilter parents. There’s little doubt, then, that Bubble Boy‘s overall impact is dulled by an episodic midsection that couldn’t possibly be more hit and miss, and it subsequently goes without saying that the picture, even at just 84 minutes, suffers from a handful of less-than-captivating digressions and sequences (eg Jimmy’s encounter with a troupe of circus freaks) – which, despite the inclusion of a satisfying, upbeat climax, ultimately confirms the picture’s place as a decent-enough endeavor that never really adds up to all that much. (Gyllenhaal’s mesmerizing and thoroughly appealing efforts are alone enough to justify a viewing, however.)

**1/2 out of ****