Genre: Comedy
Directed by Judd Apatow
Produced by Judd Apatow
Screenplay by Judd Apatow, Pam Brady
Starring: Karen Gillan, Iris Apatow, Vir Das, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Mann, Kate McKinnon, Pedro Pascal, Peter Serafinowicz, Guz Khan & Harry Trevaldwyn.
Music by Michael Andrews, Andrew Bird
Edited by Dan Schalk, James Thomas
Cinematography: Ben Smithard
Production Companies: Apatow Productions
Distributed by Netflix
The plot: Sneaking out. Hooking up. Melting down. The cast and crew of a blockbuster action franchise attempt to shoot a sequel while quarantining at a posh hotel.
I was looking forward to watch this for a second time.
This Bubble Movie was Disappointing.
Pros: It shows how much a film production, and its cast’s deal with being in the confines of a pandemic in amusing ways, and also at times it feels like a behind the scenes making of a Stupid Movie. What a All-Star cast this film assembled, and the Karen Gillan character was the one that I felt connected to the most throughout the movie. A few times I did laugh a little bit.
Cons: This film was not as funny as I thought it would be. It felt like two different ideas crashed together with no cohesion. Some of the acting felt a bit forced when the film was continuing and by the end I just about lost my mind of what sort of film it was trying to be.
Cast & Characters:
- Karen Gillan as Carol Cobb, a washed-up actress portraying Dr. Lacey Nightingale in the Cliff Beasts franchise.
- Iris Apatow as Krystal Kris, a TikTok superstar who joins the Cliff Beasts 6 cast as the character Vivian Joy. An uncredited Maude Apatow also briefly portrays Kris in a parodic scene.
- Pedro Pascal as Dieter Bravo, a serious veteran actor portraying a new character and tragic villain named Gio in Cliff Beasts 6 while coping with both an addiction to sex and hard drugs.
- Leslie Mann as Lauren Van Chance, an actress who portrays a Cliff Beasts fan favorite character named Dolly, as well as Dustin’s on-and-off love interest.
- Fred Armisen as Darren Eigan, a former indie filmmaker hired to direct Cliff Beasts 6.
- David Duchovny as Dustin Mulray, the workaholic lead of the Cliff Beasts franchise who portrays the character Dr. Hal Packard, as well as Lauren’s on-and-off love interest.
- Keegan-Michael Key as Sean Knox, an actor who portrays the Cliff Beasts character Colt Rockwell and promotes himself as a wellness guru when not on-camera.
- Kate McKinnon as Paula, the studio executive overseeing the Cliff Beasts franchise.
- Guz Khan as Howie Frangopolous, an actor who portrays Jarrar, the comic relief character of the Cliff Beasts franchise.
- Peter Serafinowicz as Gavin, executive producer of the Cliff Beasts franchise.
- Vir Das as Ronjon, the owner of the hotel playing host to the Cliff Beasts 6 cast and crew.
- Maria Bakalova as Anika, a hotel clerk propositioned by Dieter.
- Galen Hopper as Carla, the daughter of the stunt coordinator and Gavin’s production assistant who pretends to be friends with Krystal.
- Samson Kayo as Bola, the cast coordinator.
- Raphael Acloque as Zaki, a soccer player whose team is in the same hotel as the actors.
- Ross Lee as Mr. Best, the head of security.
- Harry Trevaldwyn as Gunther, the awkward COVID safety officer.
- Danielle Vitalis as Pippa, Gavin’s assistant
- Nick Kocher as Scott Dawson, the behind-the-scenes stills photographer.
- Rob Delaney as Marti, Carol’s agent.
- Maria Bamford as Krystal’s mom
- Chris Witaske as Josh, Carol’s husband
- Ben Ashenden as Tip, the MoCap Guy
- Alexander Owen as Cyril, the MoCap Guy
- Zander Emlano as Rafi, Lauren and Dustin’s adopted son
- Celeste Dring as Martha, the script supervisor
- Benedict Cumberbatch as himself, appearing in a drug-induced hallucination.
- Donna Air as Susan Howard, Entertainment Tonight reporter
- Beck as himself, hired to perform for the cast.
- John Lithgow as Tom, the studio chairman
- Austin Ku as Li, the executive chairman
- Daisy Ridley as Kate, an exercise AI who had sex with Dieter during a drug trip. Her human model later appears at the red carpet premiere for Beasts of the Bubble with Dieter and Anika.
- John Cena as Steve, the incompetent stunt coordinator who appears through a video call.
- James McAvoy as himself
I recommend watching this film only on Netflix
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.