Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 08/24/2001(USA)
Release Date: 01/15/2002
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 84 Minutes
Flags: Questionable for Children, Adult Humor, Profanity, Suitable for Teens
Distributor/Studio: Walt Disney Video
Jake Gyllenhaal, the young star of the critically well-received
October Sky (1999), follows up that film with this offbeat comedy.
Gyllenhaal stars as
Jimmy Livingston, a teenager with an immune system deficiency who has spent his entire life living in a plastic bubble under the doting, overprotective care of his mother (
Swoosie Kurtz).
Jimmy is in love with his next-door neighbor
Chloe (
Marley Shelton), so when he learns that she has left for Niagara Falls in order to be married, he's devastated. He quickly assembles a portable "bubble suit" and sets out on a 2,755.8-mile odyssey in order to stop her and proclaim his affection. Along the way,
Jimmy experiences a number of adventures, including encounters with freaks, bikers, rock stars, and a cult.
Bubble Boy is a comic riff on the classic TV movie
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), which starred a young
John Travolta.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide