Film Review: "The Bubble" (2022).

"Where Will You Be When Distaster Strikes?" This is The Bubble. This comedy film directed by Judd Apatow and written by Apatow and Pam Brady. Sneaking out. Hooking up. The cast and crew of blockbuster action franchise attempt to to shoot a sequel while quarantining at a posh hotel.

In November 2020, it was announced that Apatow had set his next film, penned by Apatow and Brady, at Netflix, with the film being about the production of a film during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was inspired by the production of Jurassic World Dominion (2022), which was filmed during the pandemic with its actors living together in a hotel during the shoot. By late February 2021, Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal, Leslie Mann, Fred Armisen, Keegan Michael Key, David Duchovny, Iris Apatow, Guz Khan, Kate McKinnon, Peter Serafinowicz, Maria Bakalova, Rob Delaney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Beck, John Lithgow, Daisy Ridley, John Cena and James McAvoy were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in mid April. Filming took place at Shepperton Studios in Shepperton; Hedsor House in Hedsor; and Cliveden House in Taplow, United Kingdom.

The film features an ensemble cast that includes Gillan, Pascal, Mann, Armisen, Key, Duchovny, Apatow, Khan, McKinnon, Serafinowicz, Bakalova, Delaney, Cumberbatch, Beck, Lithgow, Ridley, Cena and McAvoy. The film turns out to be a very unfunny film with an immensely talented cast that will be the topic of any water cooler conversation. A big-budgeted bust that could prove to be an embarrassment to at least a few of the bigger-name actors in its cast.

Because of the lack of a strong theme or point of view, unwittingly perhaps, the film becomes a version of the phenomenon it set out to parody: an action film, even a semi-patriotic action film. The bulk of this movie, alas, comes down to weak sketches held together by ridiculous action, vast explosions and more or less everything else it should be parodying. Given the incoherence of its satirical aspirations (the film does end with a suggestion that everyone involved still loves this business we call show), and finally too scattershot to really make it as parody, the film is best appreciated as a goof. More exhausting than funny, though it is often both, Apatow's latest excoriation of ego wears you down with its smothering, pop-savvy cynicism. Comes down to exactly the same type of heroic finale they're supposed to be parodying in the first place. You bettah off renting Jurassic World, or even Jurassic Park III. The film is one humongous vanity project for Apatow, the film is the movie for you. Apatow co-wrote, produced, and directed this film. This comedy about movie-making that allows the cast to play knowingly with their careers and public personae. But the film feels only half as funny as it should be, falling back too often on big action sequences that are too ridiculous to work on any level. A bizarre little film that manages to be both an exercise in tasteless humor and a commentary on Hollywood's tastelessness.

Simon says The Bubble receives:

Also, see my review for The King of Staten Island.