MovieChat Forums > Bubble (2006) Discussion > I don't even know what to say

I don't even know what to say


The way everyone behaved was completely surreal. Everyone's reactions were completely numb. Was that the point, that their doll factory existence sapped the life out of all of them?

Scene to scene, everyone's reactions seemed to be:
"Rose was murdered"
"Oh, bummer"

Or:

"Your child is a murderer"
"Oh, bummer"

The characters all felt like you could read them after having been exposed to them for a few minutes. Having the film introduced to me as a "murder mystery", I played "Spot the murderer" and had it pegged right away.

It felt like half the movie was watching the characters sit around eating.

Overall, I felt like the only character development was reenforcement of how numb and alienated they were. The plot was completely formulaic. The ending left me with a feeling of "Uhh, that's it?" and I had to pick up the DVD to discover that, yes, the film is only 70 minutes long, and... just ends.

The people who liked this film... I dunno what to say. If you want a realistic portrayal of how much life sucks for lower class white trash, try Roger and Me. If you want a completely surrealistic portrayal of how much life sucks, try Gummo. If you want a good murder mystery, try Twin Peaks.

This film feels like it was trying to accomplish bits and pieces of all of the above, and ended up a bland, boring mix of all three.

How did this movie get pitched anyway?

"Okay, here's the pitch: a murder mystery where you can spot the murderer in the first 5 minutes of the movie, then when the murder happens you instantly suspect that character, then it turns out that character is actually the murderer, then the movie ends!"

I guess I'm in the "I want my 70 minutes back" crowd

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I felt the same. I havent seen a film so average in a while that Im becoming to think that this has fallen to below average for a film.

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I guess Soderbergh was trying to do the opposite of what he usually does and that's why it didn't work. Instead of doing a full-out Hollywood schmaltzy thing, he decided to try a 'cinema veriute' thing. How could it possibly work, he was in unfamiliar territory.
I was really trying to love this movie since it got such good press at the Independent Spirit Awards, but I just can't help but think it sucked because it was a total cop-out. I hate it when directors think that minimalism in film is cool.

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You're wrong -- see Full Frontal, and he does it well. Very well. This attempt was just terrible. Completely terrible.

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You need to do your homework before spouting. 98% of his films are unconventional. 'Traffic' (which I hated) was an anomaly for his normal style.

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lol, well ur not familiar with soderbergh then. the limey, schizopolis, full frontal, girlfriend experience... actually every other film he does is an inependent venture. whatev, go eat mudd

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Fro someone who didn't know what to say you sure said a lot, lol!

Such drama! Are you sure you're not Greek? - Queen Diana (Roar)

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So people really fall on their knees and curse god when someone dies?

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[deleted]

"The way everyone behaved was completely surreal. Everyone's reactions were completely numb. Was that the point, that their doll factory existence sapped the life out of all of them?"

Yes. So did you have a criticism regarding those things, or are we to assume that you think those things are inherently bad?


"Scene to scene, everyone's reactions seemed to be:
"Rose was murdered"
"Oh, bummer"
Or:
"Your child is a murderer"
"Oh, bummer""

The first was the boyfriend's initial reaction (which seconds later turned into a double take with much more feeling) and the second was from the senile father who barely knew what was going on.

"The characters all felt like you could read them after having been exposed to them for a few minutes."

You mean fleshing out characters clearly is a bad thing? Regardless, these characters definitely showed a lot more than they let on, what with one character stealing from her date and another being nice enough but still capable of murder. Even the detective's sudden change in personality was unexpected.


"Having the film introduced to me as a "murder mystery", I played "Spot the murderer" and had it pegged right away. "

Then you got majorly gypped by that misguided person. I think it is a bit of a murder mystery, but to introduce it that way to someone removes all the surprise out of it. It's like introducing "The Sixth Sense" as a "Secret Ghost Movie".

I'm sorry I don't have the time to address the rest of your post...

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" "Having the film introduced to me as a "murder mystery", I played "Spot the murderer" and had it pegged right away. "

Then you got majorly gypped by that misguided person. I think it is a bit of a murder mystery, but to introduce it that way to someone removes all the surprise out of it. It's like introducing "The Sixth Sense" as a "Secret Ghost Movie".

I'm sorry I don't have the time to address the rest of your post... "


I got this movie through Netflix, and that site is guilty of using a very misleading description for Bubble. It reads as follows:

'Steven Soderbergh's offbeat film follows the antics of townsfolk turned detectives who try to unravel a murder mystery -- and end up discovering a bizarre love triangle. In sharp contrast to his high-budget Ocean's Eleven remake, Soderbergh uses low-cost digital camerawork and employs no-name actors in this quirky small-town drama.'

Okay, the last part makes sense, but really - a "murder mystery" and "bizarre love triangle" ??? Needless to say, it kind of spoils the movie when all you can think about are these two things the whole time you're watching it.

I liked the movie, despite all this.

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Wow, that Netflix desc is just awful!

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Can i just say that i think you are totally right about nearly all of what you said and you were totally rational. I have to say that i thought the reactions to Rose's death were pretty realistic though. And i connected with this film so weakly that i couldn't really even try to review this film. And i agree that none of the techniques used are particularly revolutionary ('Gummo') and because of this, i'm confused as to why there's so much mystery about it and why he's so quiet about it all. urgh.... great post.

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I really don't think you truly "get" this film.

It's not a murder mystery. If Soderbergh wanted the viewer to be racking their brains to try and find out who did it, he would have done just that, not made it painfully obvious that it was Martha, as he did here.

What the film is really about is a fantastically realistic portrayal of this small town and the characters of the town, as well as being an insight into how much people are forced to do for money in such a community (Rose was stealing from all kinds of people, and it seems that Martha killed Rose and stole her stuff (that's what she was selling in the scene after Rose died). It's also about theft- all the aformentioned things that were stolen, as well as Martha's perception that Rose had stolen Kyle from her.

You need to look deeper into the film. It's not about the plot, it's about the themes.

Sorry, Maury. I'm not a gymnast.

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I would try to look deeper, but there's not much else to look at other than those few theft scenes and Rose's murder. I've never seen so little happen in a 70 minute movie. Someone a few posts back nailed it by saying most of the movie was watching people eat.

I realize the director wanted to use no-name actors and was trying to do a nice, simple movie with depth - maybe a la About Schmidt? But it's like he told the actors "Ok, sit there, don't do anything, I'm going to videotape you and make a movie of it, set it to a horrible soundtrack, and it'll be minimalist art." I mean the characters just weren't interesting, or audible. They barely had any motivation. I understand that the director was definitely going for a very specific feel and emotional atmosphere, but the movie still has to be interesting - interesting things still need to take place otherwise he might as well have filmed paint drying on a lower class home and gotten the exact same effect.

And I am a big Soderbergh, and really wanted to like this movie.

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You big Soderbergh you!!

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