Steven Soderbergh's "Bubble" Is Genius

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 2/4/06 at 10:05pm

BUBBLE ***1/2 out of ****

Hopefully, Bubble will not go down in history for its revolutionary release strategy or its practice of using non-actors (who are all fantastic). I would rather see Bubble go down in history as a work of brilliant filmmaking; an experimental film of uncompromising strength and power. It draws you in slowly under its hypnotic power, chronicling the life and times of a small Ohio town on the edge of collapse before punching you in the gut with its uncompromising sense of realism. Every detail is absolutely dead on. Every conversation sounds deppressingly accurate. This is not only Soderbergh's best film since Traffic, but it is also the most accurate depiction of small town life since Fargo.

I will refrain from discussing details of the plot. I would rather you discover that for itself. The only thing I will reveal is that it centers on the lives of three employees of a doll factory: Martha, Kyle, and Rose. Their lives converge in ways so realistically made that you can hardly believe you are watching a work of fiction.

With the second half, Bubble could have easily fallen into the trap that so many other, less imaginative films reside. But it doesn't. Though the developments here could be ripped-straight-from-the-headlines sensationalism, the note that Soderbergh begins with is carried all the way through. It finally ends with the viewer keeled over, trying to recover after the film has punched them in the gut.

Bubble was released in January 2006. If this is a harbinger of things to come, than we are in for one hell of a year for film.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/4/06 at 10:11pm

Can't wait to see it!

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 2/5/06 at 12:16pm

The final moments are just...wow.