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Bubble Boy Movie Review Summary

Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Swoosie Kurtz, Marley Shelton

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Bubble Boy


The story is about Jimmy, a boy who is born with no immunity and who as a consequence must live is a huge plastic bubble installed in his bedroom by his mother. Jimmy is a teenage boy who lives in a nice house with his mother and father. He knows he is a special boy because he never gets outside his plastic bubble. His mother installed Jimmy in his bubble when he was only four years old and after finally being able to get him from the hospital where he was born. She told him that he was born with no immunity and so the tiniest germ could kill him if he ever dared to leave his protected, super clean environment.
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Jimmy's mother is a bit of a religious freak so she feeds him cross-shaped cookies and tells him that the world is a dirty, horrible place to live in. Jimmy observes the world from his window and one day he sees Chloe, the girl next door, washing her car and he has an erection. His mother is horrified and she tells him that from now on he must recite The Pledge of Allegiance whenever he has an erection and it will automatically go away.

Chloe and Jimmy become best friends. She brings him gifts and she gets them to him through a decontamination chamber. One day she asks Jimmy to let her in his bubble and he refuses. He is afraid that he will die because his mother told him so. Chloe tells him that she will get herself decontaminated but Jimmy says no. She goes away and she finds herself a boyfriend called Mark.

Mark and Chloe decide to get married in a place near the Niagara Falls. She tells Jimmy that she can no longer visit him and he is very sad. One night, Jimmy builds himself a smaller bubble suit and he gets out of the house for the first time in his life. He decides to travel to Niagara Falls and stop Chloe from getting married to her boyfriend.

Jimmy goes to the bus station and he is told that the ticket to Niagara Falls costs 260$. He knows nothing about the outside world and he has no money. He doesn't pay attention and he gets hit by a bus full of teenagers that call themselves The Bright and Shiny. Jimmy is not hurt and his bubble is intact and the teenagers load him into their bus and tell him they will get him to Niagara Falls for free.

Jimmy understands that The Bright and Shiny is some sort of a religious group and he is naïve enough to ask if they are a cult. They get mad and throw him out of the bus in the middle of the desert. Jimmy's mother finds out that her son left the nest and she packs her bags and her husband and starts looking for him.

Jimmy starts walking through the desert and he meets a biker called Slim. He helps Slim fix his bike and he takes Jimmy to Vegas. They have a really good time in Vegas but Jimmy decides to take off on his own after winning a small bike as a prize. The Bright and Shiny bus is also following Jimmy because the religious leader told his followers that their new Messiah will have a round aura around him and they instantly thought that Jimmy was their new leader.

Jimmy's mother catches up with him on his way to Niagara Falls but she hits him with her car by mistake and he is projected into a train. He finds out that the train belongs to Dr. Phreak and his gang and that they are some sort of circus band. He travels with them for a while than he meets an Indian man is a fast food.

The man owns an ice cream and curry truck. Jimmy asks Pushpop, the Indian man, to take him to Niagara Falls and he accepts. Pushpop hits a cow on the road and he gets very upset. He gives Jimmy and ice cream and he tells him to go away.

Jimmy arrives is a small town and he asks a very old man to take him to Niagara Falls. The man tells him that he needs 500$ to get to Niagara Falls so Jimmy goes into a bar. He wrestles some girls into the mud and he wins the 500$ prize. He and Pappy, the old man, take off to Niagara Falls but the old man dies at the wheel and Jimmy jumps out of the car. Jimmy calls Chloe to tell her that he is on his way and that she must wait for him but Mark answers the phone and tells Jimmy that he is just a freak and that he must take his mind away from Chloe because she will never marry him.
Jimmy is sad and he decides to call his mother and tell her to take him home. The parents arrive but his father intervenes and he tells Jimmy to go to Niagara Falls and follow his dream.

Jimmy gets on a plane with Pippy, another old man and Pappy's brother. He jumps from the plane into the Niagara Falls and makes it in time for the wedding. He tears his plastic bubble and tells Chloe that he wants to kiss her and that he is willing to die for her.

Jimmy's mother arrives and she must admit that she kept him in his bubble because she wanted him for herself. She tells Jimmy that he got back his immunity when he was four years old.

Jimmy marries Chloe and they live happily ever after.
Best part of story, including ending: This movie is a great comedy. The characters are really funny and the story is good. I liked the movie because it made me laugh. The whole thing also got me thinking about people who accept their plastic bubble without even asking themselves if the damn thing has any other purpose than keeping them from experiencing the world as it is.

Best scene in story: There are so many funny scenes in this movie that it can get really hard to choose a single one. Jimmy's mother tells him that Chloe is a slut but he doesn't know what a slut is. When Chloe visits him for the first time he calls her the slut next door but she doesn't mind. She tells him that she is more of a beatch than a slut and they have a good laugh.

Opinion about the main character: I like Jimmy's determination to do something for himself and to get his independence.

The review of this Movie prepared by Andreea Lupei a Level 5 American Goldfinch scholar

Script Analysis of Bubble Boy

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Plot & Themes

Time/era of movie:    -   2000's+ (present) Romance/Love/Hugging    -   Yes Lover is...    -   physically ill or deformed

Main Character

Identity:    -   Male Profession/status:    -   unemployed Age:    -   a teen Ethnicity/Nationality    -   White American Unusual characteristics:    -   Physically sick

Setting

United States    -   Yes The US:    -   Northeast    -   Southwest Misc setting    -   moving train

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   no torture/death Any profanity?    -   None

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