April-May 2022 - NOW SHOWING: The Bubble
By Teresa Robinson :: Editor-in-Chief
Judd Apatow is a part of the comedy psyche. His work has become a household name. His new Netflix film, The Bubble, will be added to the list. The marketing was off to a great start, with a teaser trailer announcing CliffBeast 6. Leaving many to wonder, “Where is Cliff Beast 1-5?” It is all a part of The Bubble. The cast and crew of the action franchise, Cliff Beasts, reunite to film a sequel. While in quarantine at a fancy hotel, the experience leads to hilarious moments of meltdowns, hook-ups, and revelations as this outrageous cast of characters deal with the craziness of filming during a global pandemic.
Apatow and writing partner Pam Brady had the challenge of making a movie in a movie - one bad one and one good one. Apatow shared the writing process. “It was a unique situation because I pitched the idea to Netflix, and we didn’t have a script, but I pitched it a little bit like a Christopher Guest movie meets Tropic Thunder. But the idea was that we would write a script very fast - improvise and punch up as we went along. We just did it fast: 25 pages a week for four weeks. Then we started prep. And that’s what we did. Then wrote all through prep and the movie and post. It’s the fastest of anything I’ve ever done. We made the movie in a year - from first starting to write it to hand it in.”
The film stars Karen Gillian, Pedro Pascal, Leslie Mann, Keegan-Michael Key, and David Duchovny. Gillian plays Carol Cobb, the prodigal daughter who returns to the Cliff Beasts cast and deals with personal and professional tension. Duchovny and Mann are the married on-again, off-again couple, Dustin Mulray and Lauren Van Chance, struggling to raise their teenage son, which they drive crazy, with their inconsistencies in life trying to control their careers. Pascal is Dieter Bravo, the actor getting through the production with drugs and a desire to be loved, while Key is Sean Know, the positive professional who, after time, finds new ways to handle working on a set. It also includes Maude Apatow, daughter of Judd Apatow, who is making a name for herself with her role as Lexi on the HBO Max show, Euphoria. She plays Krystal Kris, the youngest of the cast and true to this electronic-like generation. She has one of the funniest scenes where she creates a TikTok video with the rest of the cast. Can’t wait for that to go live! Kate McKinnon, like always, shined as an executive head willing to stop at nothing to make sure the movie gets made.
Apatow wishes that the film is an escape from real life. “I hope the movie makes people happy, makes them laugh, and gives them a break. It only exists...for all of us to commiserate about how bizarre and troubling and hard it’s been. If we can do that, with something really funny, then we’ve succeeded.”
The Bubble delivers the cheesy laughs, which we all could use while continuing to keep the Apatow heartfelt storytelling. The film laughs at the spoiled culture of the Hollywood elite, celebrates the bonding of family and the power of teamwork - and gives us a break from the global phenomenon known as coronavirus…with dinosaurs. A definite must-see.
The Bubble premieres today on Netflix: www.netflix.com/thebubble