Bubble Boy (2001)
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A young man living in a sterilized dome must venture into the outside world to stop his crush's wedding.
The story
Jimmy Livingston is a young man born without an immune system who has lived in a sterilized dome in his California home since childhood, earning him the nickname 'Bubble Boy.' His overbearing mother limits his entertainment to specific magazines and television. When his neighbor Chloe moves away to marry her boyfriend in three days, Jimmy discovers she has mutual feelings for him. Determined to stop the wedding, Jimmy builds a mobile bubble suit and embarks on a journey across the country, encountering various eccentric characters and obstacles along the way.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Jimmy Livingston, known as 'Bubble Boy' because he lives in a sterilized dome due to a lack of immune system, sets out to stop his crush Chloe's wedding to Mark. During his journey, he is picked up by a cult called Bright and Shiny, abandoned in the desert, and later joins a biker named Slim. He travels through Las Vegas on a scooter, gets hit by his parents' car, and ends up on a train belonging to Dr. Phreak, a man who displays 'freaks' for money. After various encounters with an ice cream truck driver named Pushpop and a taxi driver named Pappy, Jimmy reaches New York, where he learns from Chloe's fiancé that she doesn't love him. Encouraged by his father, Morton, Jimmy escapes on a plane piloted by Pappy's twin, Pippy. After surviving a fall over Niagara Falls, Jimmy reaches the church in time to stop the wedding. He abandons his bubble suit to kiss Chloe. It is then revealed by his mother that Jimmy actually developed an immune system at age four and was only isolated due to her overprotectiveness. The film ends with Jimmy and Chloe marrying, while the various characters he met along the way join the celebration.
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 84
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Blair Hayes
- Writers
- Cinco Paul · writer; Ken Daurio · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jake Gyllenhaal · Jimmy Livingston; Swoosie Kurtz · Mrs. Livingston / Wildfire; Marley Shelton · Chloe; Danny Trejo · Slim; John Carroll Lynch · Morton Livingston; Verne Troyer · Dr. Phreak; Dave Sheridan · Mark; Brian George · Pushpop
- Genres
- comedy; black comedy; road movie; adventure
- Themes
- overprotection; isolation; determination
- Tone and mood
- comedy; black comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- disability; road trip; cult
- Source material / true-story basis
- Inspired by the 1976 film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 41 · scale: 100 · review count: 21
- Production trivia
- The film was inspired by the 1976 film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.; The film was a box office bomb, grossing $5 million on a $13 million budget.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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