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Movie Reviews

The Bubble

Netflix, 2022

The latest instalment in the Jurassic World franchise, Dominion, has had an extremely rocky road to release. As one of the few films to strive forward with filming during the initial stages of the pandemic, the production faced a seemingly never-ending slew of COVID-related struggles and when comedy directing icon Judd Apatow heard about it, well, he decided to make his own movie about that movie’s making. Confused? Don’t worry, watching The Bubble you’ll never be confused as to what is going on, just to why so little of it is actually funny. Apatow’s latest should be a scathing satire of the Hollywood production’s hubris and the larger-than-life figures that populated it; in reality it is a lukewarm series of disjointed, overly long jokes that don’t come together in any cohesive way to say much at all about anything.

With production for Cliff Beasts 6 forging on ahead in spite of the ongoing COVID pandemic, former franchise star Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan) is forced to reunite with her old cast-mates after a failed side-project almost derailed her entire career. As the cast and crew hole up in a palatial English estate it appears that old grudges are forgotten as the group – including the film’s stars Lauren Van Chance (Leslie Mann), Dieter Bravo (Pedro Pascal), Sean Knox (Keegan-Michael Key), Dustin Murray (David Duchovny) and director Darren Eigen (Fred Armisen) – party together and look forward to having another hit film on their resumés. When the realities of pandemic-era filmmaking settle in however – frequent PCR tests, sudden isolations, social distancing – the group begin to turn on each other and long for escape from their high-class prison. It is up to the film’s producer Gavin (Peter Serafinowicz) and his team of COVID-protocol staff to ensure that a film gets made and his actor’s survive the process.

Netflix, 2022

The Bubble feels like a drastic departure for Apatow, whose style usually leans towards a mixture of witty, reference-heavy comedy and real-life situations and stakes. Here the absurdity of the whole situation is dialled up to eleven, in a clear attempt at satirising our collective human reactions to the pandemic and the quirks that come with it. There are flashes of relatable, hilarious observations – a montage of whacky responses to invasive PCR tests – but these are few and far between amongst the otherwise long, drawn-out sequences of actors bickering over poor scripts or going to insane lengths to survive their isolations.

One such sequence involves a cast member projectile vomiting on another cast member after vehemently denying being sick. It’s a shocking, viscerally disgusting moment that merits a laugh, but Apatow beats a dead horse by having more and more actors vomit for what feels like an eternity. This over-commitment to the bit happens in each and every big scene, to the point where the film feels more like a series of sketches sewn roughly together than a fully fledged movie with a central narrative. The only through-line here belongs to COVID and besides immediately dating the film as a product of this moment in time, Apatow forgets to write characters that are anything more than hollow caricatures of the spoiled Hollywood actor.

Netflix, 2022

You could argue that Apatow is attempting to poke fun at that stereotypical rich, whiny actor but doesn’t have anything to say other than unfunny, mean-spirited jabs. Without characters that we can sympathise with, an actual story-line or decent jokes, the only thing the audience is left to be is bored; a fact that isn’t helped by Apatow’s usual overstuffed runtime. Still, the entire all-star cast commendably commits to even the silliest bits, making for some laughs in the ridiculousness of seeing Pedro Pascal and David Duchovny pulling off TikTok dances. Newcomer Harry Tevaldwyn deserves mention too; excellent as the film’s quiet but sharp-witted COVID officer, it is a shame he doesn’t have a better overall package to make his debut in.

The Bubble is a total misfire for Apatow, who proves with this film that his strengths lie in the grounded comedy-dramas of Knocked Up and This is 40 rather than this absurdist look at the pandemic. While his intentions are admirable and the concept is rife with comedic potential, the end-result is a painfully bloated and unfunny series of gags that fail to provide any new perspective on the pandemic that hasn’t already been beaten to death in the past two years through twitter jokes and memes. Like the virus itself, this is one pandemic-era product that should be left in the past, sorry to burst your bubble Judd.

Netflix, 2022

The Bubble stars Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal, Iris Apatow, Leslie Mann, Fred Armisen, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, Guy Khan, Peter Serafinowicz, Maria Bakalova & David Duchovny – Streaming on Netflix now.

Rating: 3 out of 10.

3/10

Categories
Movie Reviews

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Amazon Prime Video, 2020

It’s been 14 years since Sacha Baron Cohen’s intrepid Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev invaded America in an effort to learn about the powerhouse country and steal their secrets for the great nation of Kazakhstan. Borat’s trip, of course, goes awry in the most spectacular fashion, in a way some might say that is similar to the current state of the United States under the presidency of one Donald Trump (or McDonald Trump if you were raised in Kazakhstan). This similarity is not lost on Baron Cohen who dives deep into his bag of crude humour and over-the-top political satire to deliver a film with real bite in its condemnation of the current American administration, but also with a surprising amount of heart in the relationship between Borat and his estranged daughter. While it may not have the staying power of the original film due to the narrow focus of its themes on the current election, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is still a hilarious, if sometimes overly crude return to form for Sacha Baron Cohen and a welcome comeback for one of comedy’s biggest modern icons.

What makes Borat Subsequent Moviefilm so effective in today’s climate is just how closely Baron Cohen has his finger on the pulse of what is going on in the world at the moment. Filmed in secret in 2019 and 2020, the film feels extremely timely and fresh, tackling the most recent allegations of inappropriateness against Trump and even the Coronavirus pandemic, with Borat learning the ins and out of the virus, including that it can’t be beaten to death with a frying pan. There is no questioning Baron Cohen’s commitment to his characters and art, clearly risking extreme punishment as he barges into Republic conferences and rallies in deep, inflammatory cover; risking death from the more fanatic, gun-toting members of Trump’s followers. It adds an extra layer of respect from the audience that endears you even more to Borat and allows him to get away with the crassness of the character. Who else in 2020 could get away with playing a character who genuinely and openly supports the Holocaust?

Amazon Prime Video, 2020

Balancing out that crassness is the addition of relatively unknown Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, making her English language debut as Borat’s daughter Tutar. Her character is central to the plot, which sees Borat making his way across the States to gift Tutar to vice-president Mike Pence in an effort to mend fences between the two countries and prevent Borat’s execution. Tutar’ s presence not only allows for the obvious jokes and commentary to be made about Trump and Pence’s penchant for using women but also provides an unexpected and welcome dose of heart to the proceedings, as we watch Borat develop unexpected feelings of pride and a protectiveness for his daughter. Bakalova is excellent in the role, clearly game for the same stunts as Baron Cohen as she puts herself in several awkward situations opposite unsuspecting, real-life politicians like former New York Mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani. That interaction has recently inflamed the internet with allegations that Giuliani attempted to seduce the undercover actress and although it certainly seems that way from the footage, Baron Cohen and Bakalova are actively trying to draw these responses from their subjects. This doesn’t lessen the impact of seeing these questionable events, but for the sake of fairness viewers should understand the political leanings of Baron Cohen going in.

While it may seem that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is only interested in Trump commentary, there are also bundles of gags that tackle other issues, such as abortion and a woman’s right to choose. The set-ups may be ridiculous, but Baron Cohen does obtain very interesting responses from his subjects, as good journalists should, with some surprising and downright bizarre admissions from people on-camera, seemingly unaware of the absurdness of the situation or the character of Borat. Then there are the crass jokes. Fans of the first film shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Judaism bashing and jokes about the inferiority of women return, with some truly vulgar set-pieces throughout. What does surprise, however, is the fact that Borat actually learns from his adventures and changes his views, something that may upset viewers looking for a third Jew hating film but which fits in with Baron Cohen’s agenda of changing viewers outlooks ahead of the historic US elections.

Amazon Prime Video, 2020

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a surprisingly consistently hilarious return to form for Sacha Baron Cohen’s beloved Kazakh character; a film that works as well as a comedy as it does as a political tool for Baron Cohen to bring light to major US issues from his point of view. If you aren’t invested in the elections and are sick of the constant Trump news cycles then this may not be the most enjoyable experience, but for those that have even a passing understanding of Trump’s misadventures through American politics and are willing to sit through some fairly obvious jokes, this is an extremely effective sequel that rarely falls short in the laughs department. Time will tell if the film loses its potency once these current issues begin to fade from memory but for now this is an extremely timely and effective comedy that you should get onto quickly before McDonald Trump launches his nukes at Amazon Prime headquarters.

Amazon Prime Video, 2020

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm stars Sacha Baron Cohen & Maria Bakalova – Streaming on Amazon Prime now.